The Stalinization of American History

I've railed here before about revisionist history--changing the narrative of historical text to fit modern social mores rather than sticking to just facts and actual historic impact.  The ultimate historical revisionist was former Soviet Premier Josef Stalin who took great steps to actually make people "disappear" from the historical record.

As part of his political purges, Stalin targeted pretty much anyone who did not side with him on all subjects and terrorized anyone who dared to challenge him.  Those enemies--actual and perceived--were killed, exiled to Siberia or forced to leave the country altogether.  And once those enemies were gone, Stalin had his "historians" actually go through public records, photographs and even films to literally "delete" any and all references to that person.  It was like they never existed.  Stalin also went so far as to alter the same documents, pictures and films to make it appear that he was present at all great moments of Soviet history--even when he wasn't within 500-miles of the event.

I am reminded of the Stalinization of Russian history every time I read about a new demand from college students and other liberals to erase certain aspects of American history.  The latest battle comes from Princeton University--where students of color are demanding that all references to former President (and University President) Woodrow Wilson be removed from campus because he was a racist.  This is particularly troubling, as Wilson is generally considered to be the Father of Modern Liberalism--a man who believed there was no problem that greater government control and spending couldn't fix, as well as a belief that multi-nationalism superceded American Exceptionalism--so now we have a case of the Left turning upon its own.

For the students of Princeton, Wilson's initial push for programs like Social Security, unemployment insurance and the League of Nations is completely trumped (an ironic word when you think about it) by his re-segregation of the Federal Government--and the division of white and blacks in the workplace.  Today, walking into a building named the Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs and Diplomacy is such a "micro-aggression" and "trigger event" that a minority student couldn't possibly be expected to learn anything.

And so, Woodrow Wilson must go--just like Leon Trotsky "disappeared" from the history of the Soviet Union under Stalin--and just like any reference to the Confederacy must be obliterated in the South.  No more can his name grace the campus which he transformed from an "rich, old boys club" to the Liberal safe-haven that it is today--with "safe-spaces" and limits upon free speech and the open exchange of ideas.

It was only after the collapse of Socialism in the Soviet Union that Russians could once again learn a "full history" of them as a people and as a nation.  How many historic Americans will be "lost" to the new crop of "Stalins" running amok on our college campuses before freedom is restored?