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Obama biography, required reading, tells fourth-graders that white Americans are racists
The Daily Caller ^ | 22 November 2013 | Eric Owens

Posted on 11/22/2013 12:03:51 PM PST by rarestia

Some parents in Dupo, Ill. are not happy that a biography of President Barack Obama is required reading for fourth-graders. They say the book contains a host of controversial elements, not least of which is that it casts white Americans who disagree with Obama’s politics as racist.

Fourth-grade students at Bluffview Elementary School were instructed that they would be tested and graded on the book’s contents, reports EAGnews.org.

The book, called simply “Barack Obama,” is published by Lerner Publications. The author, Jane Sutcliffe, appears to specialize in these kinds of biographies. She has written similar titles about Jesse Owens, Ronald Reagan, Sacagawea and Milton Hershey.

The kerfuffle about the book originally bubbled up through a Facebook page called Moms Against Duncan (MAD). The group actively opposes implementation of the Common Core curriculum.

EAGNews notes that the Obama book is part of Scholastic’s “Reading Counts” program and an acceptable title under the Common Core State Standards Initiative, which attempts to standardize various K-12 curricula around the country.

You can view a sample of the bio on Google Books.

The book continually identifies Obama on a first-name basis. It bizarrely blames the evils of television for learning ways “to be black” that are hilariously caricatured, stereotypical and negative.

When Barry looked in the mirror, he saw a young black man. But he didn’t know how to be black. And no one was there to teach him.

He decided to act like the black characters he saw on TV. He started acting tough. He cursed. Was that what it meant to be black?

As he got older, he started smoking and drinking. He tried drugs. Was that what it meant to be black?

It’s not clear if Sutcliffe purposefully conflates being a black American with “acting tough,” cussing, “smoking and drinking” and doing drugs.

Sutcliffe is white, according to her Amazon.com author page.

The Obama biography goes on to charge that white Americans did not want to vote for Obama because of his skin color. However, it neatly explains, America’s 44th president was able to bring everybody together in blissful unity.

But some people said Americans weren’t ready for that much change. Sure Barack was a nice fellow, they said. But white voters would never vote for a black president. Other angry voices were raised. Barack’s former pastor called the country a failure. God would damn the United States for mistreating its black citizens, he said.

The book then recounts Obama’s March 2008 speech about race.

“Barack decided it was time to speak to Americans about race,” the next paragraph pedantically explains. “Black people and white people were too often angry with one another. All people were going to have to work together to solve the country’s problems. Only in that way could Americans make a more perfect United States.”

It’s not clear if the book’s author believes the United States is now “more perfect” some six years into the Obama presidency.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: arth; childrenofthestate; commoncore; obama; obamabio; obamabiography
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To: roadcat

There are schools that are so horrific that it would be better for the child to **never** attend.

Illiteracy and innumeracy can be fixed. Adults do it all the time. Dead can’t be.


61 posted on 11/22/2013 9:33:37 PM PST by wintertime
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To: Wanderer99

The only reason there aren’t death camps is the Second Amendment. If it weren’t for the Second Amendment the leftists would have made their move long ago.


62 posted on 11/22/2013 9:36:13 PM PST by wintertime
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To: DesertRhino

...and screw around with Reggie.


63 posted on 11/22/2013 10:45:07 PM PST by itssme
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To: LyinLibs

I use to look at all those drooling caucasian women in opera’s audience on TV in passing, and I wondered why they got all excited about this big mouth know it all. Well, suckers, have you wised up? Then be sure to kick this poor black woman to the curb and her TV show, too.


64 posted on 11/22/2013 10:49:33 PM PST by itssme
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To: I want the USA back

Hey, as long as the democrats amass more power, that’s all that matters right? You know, the “ends justifies all means” theory?


65 posted on 11/23/2013 5:35:41 AM PST by ReformationFan
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To: rarestia

Since in the mind of the gov’t/media complex, “racist” means “anyone who disagrees with the dems for any reason”, we all need to start embracing the label. Something along the lines of “I’m a ‘racist’ just like Herman Cain and Alan Keyes.”


66 posted on 11/23/2013 5:37:31 AM PST by ReformationFan
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To: Clintonfatigued; metmom; fieldmarshaldj

http://dailycaller.com/2013/11/22/english-school-threatens-to-label-kids-racist-for-years-unless-they-attend-islam-field-trip/

There’s another, from the UK.


67 posted on 11/23/2013 6:52:51 AM PST by Impy (RED=COMMUNIST, NOT REPUBLICAN)
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To: Impy

I’d only go if they had a live beheading of a Labour Dhimmi politician.


68 posted on 11/23/2013 6:55:27 AM PST by fieldmarshaldj (Resist We Much)
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To: SisterK

No doubt.

“Homeschool or Die”.

It’s the sleeper bomb. If we don’t homeschool our own children will kill America out of ignorance of what America was meant to be.


69 posted on 11/23/2013 1:30:56 PM PST by CelesteChristi
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To: DoughtyOne
At some point, even the dumbest have to begin to ask questions of themselves.

If you know any seriously loyal Democrats, you know that point is still in the future. There's some in-laws around whom my wife doesn't want politics to come up.

70 posted on 11/23/2013 7:13:45 PM PST by Pearls Before Swine
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To: Pearls Before Swine

It’s that way in my family too. Some folks can’t see Obama for who he is. Amazing...


71 posted on 11/23/2013 7:32:16 PM PST by DoughtyOne (Obama, the Democrat Party, the Left in the U. S., have essentially become the 4th Reich.)
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