It has been forty four years ago this month, if my timeline is correct, that government (public) schools reopened in Kanawha County, West Virginia to a very slim group of students. Most of the students were kept at home by parents who had major (and understandable) problems with the textbooks their kids were supposed to use that year and they were not about to subject their kids to what many of them felt were pornographic texts.

I’ve seen copies of what was in some of the books. The parents were right.

This whole situation set off a major struggle over who really controlled what passes for public education in this country–and just to give you a subtle hint–it ain’t the parents. Even with Trump’s new education secretary, it still ain’t the parents. A public school system run by the state will never be under the control of the parents, no matter what you may hear at the parent-teacher meetings.

A public school system is a state school system and our parents, especially our Christian parents, need to be able to get a grasp of this salient fact. Most of them don’t have a clue.

As for much of went on in West Virginia during this textbook protest, I would urge you to read a book by Karl Priest called Protester Voices–the 1974 Textbook Tea Party. I believe it’s still on Amazon, but if you can’t find it there contact me and I will give you Karl’s mailing address.

The textbook protest in Kanawha County changed the lives of myself and my family because, even though we lived in Illinois when it started, we ended up in West Virginia while it continued.

The whole situation never would have come to light had not Alice Moore been on the school board.It was her that exposed what was in the books. The other school board members were willing to just go along to get along with the texts that were “suggested” for the students. Mrs. Moore, when she got a look at what was being proposed to feed the kids intellectually, was not. She was on target–the rest of the school board was “out to lunch” so to speak, willing to go along to get along.

Mrs. Moore exposed what was in the books to Kanawha County parents with the help of several local preachers and rallies were held all over the county to alert people to the intellectual swamp that was the public school system. So when public schools convened in the Fall of 1974, most kids stayed home. Not only that, parents started picketing the schools and that meant lots of people, truck drivers included, would not cross the picket lines. West Virginia was a union state and you didn’t cross a picket line.

Parents wrote to their state legislators, their national legislators, and whoever they thought would help them get these horrible books out of their schools. No one was willing to do anything. No one did anything. What the parents didn’t realize at the time, and I hope they do now, is that no one was going to do anything – ever!

The sleaze-books their kids were to be force-fed were mandated in Washington and that was that. When parents publicly protested they were often met by “peace officers” with billy clubs who enjoyed breaking up the protests by hitting little old ladies (and others) over the shoulder with billy clubs and if they could hit hard enough they often broke the shoulder. They got their kicks doing that. Some were heard to say as much.

Word of the protest eventually got out despite the managed media’s attempts to contain it locally. That’s how we found out about it in Illinois. There was an article in one of the Chicago papers that really bashed the protesters and it was bad enough that I started watching for more articles with names in them and when I found some I started trying to contact those people to find out what really was going on because, even at that early date, I realized the “news” media mostly lied to us.

We took a trip to West Virginia in June of 1975 and stayed with a fine Christian family there for a week. During that time I interviewed some of the protest leaders and really got an earful. Hard to believe that some of what I heard happens in Amerika, but it did–and does.

The parents in Kanawha County were guilty – of wanting a decent, moral education for their kids. Little did they realize at the time they would never – and I mean never –  get that in the public school system. And today it’s even worse.

The Deep State of that day (not much different than today’s) managed to beat the protest (literally) into submission. Several new Christian schools came out of the protest, but if more Christians had gotten involved instead of sitting it out, the effect could have been greater.

So the textbook protest in West Virginia ended, not with a whimper, but with a billy club whacked over old ladies shoulders. I saw some of them, heard what they had to say about it all. The public schools in West Virginia and other places, are no different today than then except they are busier taking down Confederate flags than they used to be.

If you are one of those whose hope is in the “reformation” of public schools you are dreaming a dream that will never happen, no matter what kind of administration they have in Washington. The educational establishment is dedicated to the cultural destruction of your children and you’d better get used to that idea because that’s how it is. If you want anything better for your kids, take them and secede from the public “education” system and educate them at home or find some kind of Christian school you can trust. For a little added info, try checking out Exodus Mandate.

September 4, 2018

~ The Author ~
Al Benson Jr. is the editor and publisher of “The Copperhead Chronicle“, a quarterly newsletter that presents history from a pro-Southern and Christian perspective. He has written for several publications over the years. His articles have appeared in “The National Educator,” “The Free Magnolia,” and the “Southern Patriot.” I addition to that he was the editor of, and wrote for, “The Christian Educator” for several years. In addition to The Copperhead Chronicles, Al also maintains Revised History.

He is currently a member of the Confederate Society of America and the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and has, in the past, been a member of the John Birch Society. He is the co-author, along with Walter D. Kennedy, of the book “Lincoln’s Marxists” and he has written for several Internet sites as well as authoring a series of booklets, with tests, dealing with the War of Northern Aggression, for home school students.

He and his wife now live in northern Louisiana.

Mr. Benson is a highly respected scholar and writer and has graciously allowed Metropolis Café to publish his works. We are proud to have his involvement with this project.