This is just another example of the progressive infiltration of our public school system by socialist instructors. I didn't see any signs protesting the murder of thousands of Christians in Nigeria. The beheadings and murder of thousands of muslims by "radical islamic terrorists in the middle east. I did see the anti semite attitude from the San Jose State Prof. Akubundu Lott. I guess he didn't study history, or chose gloss over the fact that Jews have been terrorized for decades all over the world. I suggest these students start looking at some of the "older" history books, and see what really happened in this world. it is always easy to blame the US for everything these days especially when these students are ignorant to the facts, and have never really looked very hard at finding out the real truth.

Mr BP. You said that it is always easy to blame the US for everything. Who is doing that? Just because some students are trying to raise awareness on several issues?

You want us to replace modern textbooks with the Mcacsrthy area ones and teach "Better dead than red?"

Or by old, you want to return to mid 1800's and teach that slavery is OK?

I'm sorry Mr. BP, but we have evolved past that long, ugly period in our history. And by "we", I don't mean YOU. There are still rural areas in red states that you can move to and be with your "kind." Don't forget to pick up some bedsheets here for the club meetings, because they sell out quickly where you will be living.

Personally I'm getting tired of all the protesting and the myriad of problems they are supporting. It seems like when anyone protests, the media latches on to it like Oprah to a ham sandwich. Its just gotten really old.

Where were these students when the two police officers were assassinated in New York City? I suppose protesting their deaths was not fashionable.

"The mix of signs also included the faces of Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin, killed by police. "

Trayvon Martin was killed by a citizen who was being assaulted.

I was proud to march with the students yesterday. Mr. BP's comment misses the point. We never claimed that were not other terrorist forces in the world, torturing and/or killing civilians. Our concerns are as follows: 1) that the US government has been and remains disproportionately responsible for wars of aggression and other war crimes over the past century, i.e. the US government is, as Dr. King once said, the "main purveyor of violence in the world today"; 2) that the US government often supports directly or indirectly other terrorist forces (such as ISIS until recently) and brutal regimes throughout the "third world" that cater to US corporate interests; and 3) that the US government should join 122 other countries and belong to the UN's International Criminal Court. Why should the US government be above the law?

Just as expected -- a story like this gets posted here, and our resident wingnuts come out to share their "wisdom."

Sigh.

Mr. Donnelly,

Do you agree with SJ State Professor Akubundu Lott's calling out of "the U.S. government for setting up what he called an apartheid state in the Middle East within the Israeli Palestinian conflict" ?

Are you proud and glad that students you helped organize heard this? What steps have you undertaken to make sure your students heard other sides to this story?

Thanks,
Concerned LAHS parent

Protests like these simply incite killers like the guy who killed an immigrant Chinese police officer and an immigrant Central American police officer. More protests mean more violence against police officers, government employees - particularly from immigrant families.

Black Lives Matter! Except the ones killed by other blacks.

Better to share wisdom then to share nothing other then hate, like stop the troll person does.

Every point that is articulated by Mr. Donnelly above is factual. The point is that terrorism, anywhere, any time, by any person, group or state, is unacceptable. The problem is that people tend to define terrorism to suit their own interests.

We were all given the standard history texts to learn when going through the American educational system. There are several books that I have recently read and that open minded (but uninformed)citizens should take the time to read and understand:

1. "A People's History of the United States," by Howard Zinn (this book should be a required History text that is taught along side classic American History texts in our public educational institutions)

2. "Seeing Through the System," by Gus Bagakis

Read these books, check the references, do some research and then lets have a serious discussion about what we should be teaching our children in our standard curriculum. At this time, what we teach them conveniently leaves out a number of facts (see Donnelly's points again) that benefit the elite classes (owners of the vast majority of the worlds capital), at the expense of everyone else (the working class people).

As the "old saw" goes, sometimes, the truth hurts. Kudos to Donnelly and his students.

@Mr. Donnelly,"Our concerns are as follows: 1) that the US government has been and remains disproportionately responsible for wars of aggression and other war crimes over the past century, i.e. the US government is, as Dr. King once said, the "main purveyor of violence in the world today";

The US was very reluctant to get involved in WW1 & WW2, as these were wars "over there". Only after the Lusitania was sunk and Pearl Harbor was bombed did we join the fight. We have also learned that is better to fight wars on their turf, not ours, wouldn't you agree Mr. Donnelly. As to violence, sometimes it is very necessary. Would you prefer to have a deep and meaningful conversation with a scimitar wielding terrorist regarding the location of your head, or be thankful for the sniper who shoots him?
Filling the minds of passionate young people with your seemingly one sided views of the world, does a disservice to the academic concept of balance and the country we are so fortunate to be living in, that allows you to freely teach, and protest.

Robert from St. Francis Acres hit the nail on the head.
One thing I might add. I would rather be water boarded
then have my head cut off..

For all the folks charging the US with all this BS, actually start by looking up the facts, or ask one of us "old " guys who may have been there.

Following LASD PARENT's suggestion above, I looked up The Peoples History of the US by Howard Zinn. Here is how Mr. Zinn describes his own book.


In a letter responding to a 2007 critical review of his A Young People’s History Of The United States (a release of the title for younger readers) in The New York Times Book Review, Zinn wrote:

My history... describes the inspiring struggle of those who have fought slavery and racism (Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Fannie Lou Hamer, Bob Moses), of the labor organizers who have led strikes for the rights of working people (Big Bill Haywood, Mother Jones, César Chávez), of the socialists and others who have protested war and militarism (Eugene V. Debs, Helen Keller, the Rev. Daniel Berrigan, Cindy Sheehan). My hero is not Theodore Roosevelt, who loved war and congratulated a general after a massacre of Filipino villagers at the turn of the century, but Mark Twain, who denounced the massacre and satirized imperialism.[5][6]

I want young people to understand that ours is a beautiful country, but it has been taken over by men who have no respect for human rights or constitutional liberties. Our people are basically decent and caring, and our highest ideals are expressed in the Declaration of Independence, which says that all of us have an equal right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The history of our country, I point out in my book, is a striving, against corporate robber barons and war makers, to make those ideals a reality — and all of us, of whatever age, can find immense satisfaction in becoming part of that.[7]

OK, fellow travelers, Mr. Zinn is singing your song.

In response to Robert's comments, the United States may have been slow to enter WWI and WWII, but it was not slow to wage a genocidal war of aggression against the Vietnamese people, to invade Iraq illegally and pulverize its civilian infrastructure, to use depleted uranium on its munitions when it did so, and to illegally overthrow-- via CIA covert operations-- numerous democratic governments throughout the "third world" such as Arbenz in Guatemala, Allende in Chile, Lumumba in the Congo, Mossadegh in Iran, Aristide in Haiti, and so many others...

Why this aggression? Why the destruction of so many "third world" democracies through the CIA covert operations? These "third world" democracies were not a threat to us, but they did threaten to turn over vital resources in their countries to their own people, rather than US corporations. Check the facts, if you choose to go beyond the usual US-centric propaganda. The consequences were horrific-- civilians tortured and slaughtered by US-financed and trained dictatorships, millions more killed by conditions of poverty imposed by US economic domination.

The US has carried out more covert operations and intervened militarily in more countries, sold more weapons to the world, and trained more repressive military forces in the world than any other country this past century. The fact that the US was slow to enter WWI and WWII does not change this.

We protested yesterday and will protest again for a society that respects international law and human rights. We protested for a society that does not spend half of its discretionary tax budget on the military (i.e. the military industrial complex). If this makes me/ us one-sided, then we are one-sided for human rights, true democracy, and justice.

Calling out these realities, exposing them, and demanding true international justice was the spirit of yesterday's protest by the students and myself. We will continue.

This is what common core will be like. We are parenting our Great Grand Daughter because their parents were both meth heads, and ignorant beyond belief . We have her enrolled in a Christian school to prevent her from having to lput up with the likes of Donnelly.
Having been to Viet Nam, and a few other places, Mr. Donnelly is your typical Rules For Radicals Disciple of Saul Alinsky. This is who is taking over our public school systems, including the colleges and universities. If Parents can home school or send their kids to private schools, do it.

You might also look up SEATO. Thats what brought us into the Viet Nam war . Ask all the Vietnamese that have immigrated to the US, if they want to move back home. Dopers and demonstrators caused us to pull out of there. We were actually winning that war before we were forced to leave. We don't invade other countries unless we are protecting our own interests, or are asked for help. You can see what happened when the present dictator in our white house ordered all of our troops out of Iraq.

Yikes posted the best response so far to this radical teacher's teachings. Typical liberal type that permeates our school system today.

Dear Yikes,
My daughter was blessed to have Mr. Donnelly as her teacher at LAHS for 2 years. We are so lucky to have a teacher like him at the school. He taught her US History, Econ and Civics. As parents, my husband and I did not need to "enlighten them on the other side of the story". She received all the facts in the classroom. I take offense to your comment.

Seth Donnelly, why don't you go protesting with people your own age rather than preying on children that aren't mature enough to evaluate the intricasies of worldwide conflict? Now that your agenda has been made public I hope that the district will terminate your employment because teaching a myopic (and subjective) view of history to impressionable teenagers is inappropriate. And I'd be interested to observe how you respond to students in your classes that don't share your OPINION. Perhaps you should move to a more "civilized" country.

Dear MVLA Parent.
You sound like the typical progressive liberal who believes everything this Donnelly teaches your child. Too bad you didn't actually find out what that was. Maybe you never actually had an education like we "old" folks had. The 3 R's. We are the ones who have been advancing the technology of this country to the point we are at today. I'm sure you will be happy with a child who has a degree in Sociology.

@MVLA Parent- take offense all you want but if your child has had this teacher for 3 different subjects she is receiving a very narrow view of history/civics and economics. If you support his views then this narrow education is being reinforced at home so hopefully your daughter will be exposed to other opinions (and facts) when she gets to college. Kids that are exposed to "fair and balanced" evaluations of situations are better able to develop critical thinking skills. Repeated exposure to one-sided viewpoints is tantamount to brainwashing.

I have actually spent many years protesting non-violently with people "my own age" and will continue to do so. I am proud to support young people today stand up for human rights and to march with them.

My classes are lively and full of different view points, including reading materials, videos, and speakers. It is the traditional classes that "brainwash" students to have a textbook view of the US and the world.

Dear BP, I'm 55. How do you define "old"? I would have been very happy if my daughter declared Sociology for her major. For your clarification, she is studying Bio-Chemistry at UC. And, I do agree with much of what Mr. Donnelly taught my daughter. Please don't insult me or my daughter again.

Most kids that age can't think for themselves. They're too ignorant. Who put them up to this foolishness? Perhaps some politically-correct and very misguided public school teachers and parents? Our public schools are failing to educate most of our students when it comes to reading, writing, math, and particularly critical reasoning skills needed to be successful in life (and college). Methinks that our schools and teachers should cut out all of the touchy feelie multicultural and politically-correct garbage and concentrate on my aforementioned REAL knowledge. That worked for me when I was in school.

Mr. Donnelly's students should be picketing him for including "the apartheid state" in his teachings.
Isreal is the only state for Jews. There are 22 Arab states surrounding her and calling for her destruction. Many of them are holocaust deniers and some call for extermination of all Jews.(Read the Hamas charter on line.)
800,000 Jews were expelled from Arab lands and have made a home in Israel. They are not crying so do not make news. They made successful lives.

Israel is the only functioning democracy in the region and the only country where Arabs meaningfully vote and are actually represented in the legislature.
Israel is the only country that does not discriminate against gays, has equal rights for women, a free press and religious freedom. It is not perfect.
There is the problem of the territories conquered in the defensive war of 1967. A large majority of Israelis support the establishment of a Palestinian state as a homeland for Palestinians. But they have a tiger by the tail because the Palestinians want that state as a staging point for the destruction of the Jewish state. For example look at Gaza. Israel withdrew completely and offered support. Hamas took over and terrorizes its people and threatens Israel with extinction. Fortunately they are not strong enough to accomplish their aims. But Donnelly supports them.
His accusations of major crimes for the Israelis is that they are steadfast allies and friends of the US and they have a successful economy.
For shame!
Students should hear both sides. Donnelly does not provide it.
Poor students.

All,
I am seeing an interesting trend here. The majority of people that take offense to Donnelly and the students' protests appear to be responding with insults, stereotyping and name calling. I don't see the folks on the Donnelly side of the discussion taking this tack. I see actual information behind the counterarguments. This is very telling.

Now, here's another fact - It's time to get back to my Electrical Engineering job where I have helped to advance the technology of this country to where we are today. And yes, being 57 years "old," I did learn my 3R's just like my kids learned them in LASD!

"Over and out" <CLICK>

Dear BayAreaBob-
Ignorant kids??? What??? "Public schools are failing to educate most of our students....." The average GPA from the LAHS graduating class last June was around 4.4. I think our schools in the MVLA district are doing an excellent job in educating our kids.

All teachers at Los Altos High School are very respectful towards all kinds of political and social ideologies. I personally do not even know what political leanings any of my teachers have had going all the way back to middle school. Mr Donnelly is a very intelligent man, and while I have not had the pleasure of having him for a teacher, I have heard (from highly conservative students) that he is fantastic at facilitating discussions which include all points of view.

Please, do not judge a man because he helps students get involved in issues they care about just because you disagree with their points of view. Also, please do not judge the students because they have different views as a result of being raised in a different time and environment. Try to put yourself in their shoes to see what they see as a young person in our world, and I guarantee you that they will do the same. Many young people reject conservative viewpoints because what they generally see, as I have seen here, are just accusations thrown at the other side.

Do not dismiss us because we are young and "cannot think for ourselves." Insulting us makes us more likely to reject your viewpoint. Many of us are 18, and according to the US constitution, we are of the age where we are intelligent enough to vote. The local public school system creates some of the most intelligent, critical, and diverse students (yes, even some of them conservative), so please before you criticize it, think of the students who actually live it everyday.

Donnelly and MVLA parent,

You didn't say 1 word against the guy criminal who killed 2 Police officers in New York -1 was a Chinese immigrant and the other was a Central American immigrant. It is cruel and inhumane for protesters to remain silent about those killings. Protest is really needed to favor the immigrant government employees (in this case Policemen) also, victims of this cold blooded attack. The killer, Ismaaiyl Brinsley first shot his girlfriend and then these officers. Protesters inflamed Brinsley to commit these killings.

"This is just another example of the progressive infiltration of our public school system by socialist instructors."
- This is an ignorant comment with no facts to substantiate the claims made. It's pure fantasy. Distopic fantasy at that.

"I didn't see any signs protesting the murder of thousands of Christians in Nigeria. The beheadings and murder of thousands of muslims by radical islamic terrorists in the middle east."
- That's because the theme of the protest had nothing to do with these topics.

"I did see the anti semite attitude from the San Jose State Prof. Akubundu Lott. I guess he didn't study history, or chose gloss over the fact that Jews have been terrorized for decades all over the world."
- Don't look now BP but even the Israli government acknowledges its policies toward the Palistinians are oppressive. If you have a problem with this characterization, take it up with Mr. Netanyahu and his Administration.

"I suggest these students start looking at some of the "older" history books, and see what really happened in this world."
- What an absurd suggestion; as if history has changed. You can't be serious. If they studied older texts, they would know anything about the subjects you claim are most important to you. They wouldn't know anything about the "murder of thousands of Christians in Nigeria" or "The beheadings and murder of thousands of muslims by radical islamic terrorists in the middle east." You can't have it both ways, even though your words make it appear that you want everything your way.

"It is always easy to blame the US for everything these days especially when these students are ignorant to the facts, and have never really looked very hard at finding out the real truth."
- I'm amazed at this lazy and embarrassingly poorly worded statement. "Always?" "Easy?" "Real truth?" Talk about ignorant, this statement is a wholesale condemnation of bright, thoughtful students, couched in a cynical and malicious tone of a self-congratulating know-it-all. You have the "real truth," BP? Sure you do. I can't imagine how terrible it must be to see the world through such a narrow, colorless, camera obscura perspective.

Go back to school before it's too late. You will benefit from the intellectual and emotional growth offered by finishing your GED and moving on to a state college or university.

I want to thank Seth Donnelly and his students for holding their government to account. "...the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Well done.

Mr. Donnelly, I hope that you never forget how lucky you are to be living in the USA. With each and every step you take in protest of this country, you should think of a man you've never met, who took your place at some distant disputed barricade so you could bad mouth his country.

@Seth

"The fact that the US was slow to enter WWI and WWII does not change this."

You completely missed the point. Being slow to enter WWII cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of US soldiers. As LASD Parent said - the truth hurts.

@MVLA Parent

"Ignorant kids??? What??? "

Yup. "California students score at bottom of nation in reading, math"

"The majority of people that take offense to Donnelly and the students' protests appear to be responding with insults, stereotyping and name calling. I don't see the folks on the Donnelly side of the discussion taking this tack"

You just did.

@Seth -

"Our concerns are as follows: 1) that the US government has been and remains disproportionately responsible for wars of aggression and other war crimes over the past century, i.e. the US government is, as Dr. King once said, the "main purveyor of violence in the world today"; 2) that the US government often supports directly or indirectly other terrorist forces (such as ISIS until recently) and brutal regimes throughout the "third world" that cater to US corporate interests; and 3) that the US government should join 122 other countries and belong to the UN's International Criminal Court. Why should the US government be above the law?"

Really? Because the photos show students carrying "Black Lives Matter", "Oscar Grant" and "Trayvon Martin" signs.

"Do you agree with SJ State Professor Akubundu Lott's calling out of "the U.S. government for setting up what he called an apartheid state in the Middle East within the Israeli Palestinian conflict"

Wow, all those history books, tv shows, and movies that should be saying the United States set up those territories. Guess it was all lies about England and the U.N.

As a combat veteran who has personally been involved in some of these conflicts, I would offer an alternate point of view. The U.S. has given 100,000s of lives and spent $trillions to help defend the world against tyranny and give others a chance at a better life. No country has done more or shown more restraint in the last century.

To make statements like the U.S. is responsible for disproportionate aggression (Compared to who exactly? Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, the Ottoman Empire, Communism in Europe or Asia, or radical Islam), institutional genocide, or a policy of international racism is blatantly false and not supported by the generally accepted historical record.

If Mr. Donelly is presenting these ideas as facts or somehow repressed truths he is failing in his role as a teacher, scholar and authority figure. He is doing a dis-service to his students. It sets them up with a false world view and one that is on the wrong side of actual history.