- Jay Bennish
Jay Bennish is a
social studies ,American history andpolitical geography teacher atOverland High School in Aurora,Colorado . He joined the faculty in 2000.On February 1, 2006, student Sean Allen recorded one of Bennish's lectures on his
iriver . Allen took his objections regarding Bennish's class to the media, and this developed into an international story.The recorded class
After being prompted by students to talk about the State of the Union address given by U.S. President
George W. Bush the previous evening, Bennish suggested that Bush's tone was "eerily similar" to that ofAdolf Hitler 's speeches (in that both were veryethnocentric ), and thatcapitalism was "at odds withhuman rights ".Bennish also posed the question, "Who is probably the single most violent nation on planet Earth?", concurring with a student's response, "We [the United States] are". He encouraged students to consider how other nations might see the United States and its allies, suggesting that "to many Native Americans [the American] flag is no different from the Nazi flag," and that Palestinians see the Israelis as "the real terrorists". Speaking about the U.S. "
war on drugs " inColombia , he made a "reductio ad absurdum " argument suggesting that other countries might have reason to drop chemicals on U.S. tobacco fields "to destroy the tobacco plants that are killing millions and millions of people in their countries every year, and causing them billions of dollars in healthcare costs".The recording ends with Bennish saying, "I'm not in any way implying that you should agree with me. I don't know if I'm even necessarily taking a position. But what I'm trying to get you to do is to think […] about these issues more in-depth, […] and not just to take things from the surface. I'm glad you asked all of your questions, 'cause they're all very good, legitimate questions, and hopefully that'll allow other people to think about those things, too."
Media reaction
The recording was offered to a radio station (850 KOA) in Denver and to
Virginia -based economistWalter E. Williams , who discussed it in his syndicated column. Otherblog s picked up the story, and eventually Fox News and major newspapers covered the story. On Fox,Alan Colmes reported that "students walked out of classes […] after an audio tape was made public of […] Bennish ranting." In reality, the students were protesting in support of Bennish and against his suspension, and it was anMP3 recording, not a tape.As the controversy attracted national attention, Bennish was invited to appear on the
NBC "Today Show" inNew York City . In the interview with hostMatt Lauer broadcasted on March 7, 2006, Bennish maintained that his lecture had been taken out of context and that he had expressed opposing viewpoints later on during the class, which Allen had not recorded.Some journalists, blogwriters, and radio listeners chided Bennish for "indoctrinating" students rather than teaching geography. While the course syllabus reveals an intent to encourage critical thinking about "religion, human rights, notions of development and underdevelopment..." what some found offensive was that Bennish's commentary appeared to be outside of that context. Some believed his stated views to be anti-American.
Bennish argued he was only trying to give a different viewpoint.
Inaccuracies in the recorded lecture
In the recorded discussion Bennish made statements which were inaccurate as phrased:
*He said that the U.S. was the world's largest producer ofcigarettes ; in fact,China ,India andBrazil now manufacture more cigarettes than the United States.
*He stated thatNorth Carolina is responsible for most of U.S. tobacco production, but theUSDA estimates that the state contributes only 37% of national production. North Carolina does, however, produce more tobacco than any other state, so technically no single state would be responsible for most of the U.S. tobacco production.
*He stated that "theIsrael i-Zionist movement" assassinated the British prime minister in Palestine. The closest individual fitting this description isLord Moyne , Minister Resident for the Middle East, who was assassinated by Lehi in 1944, a few years before Israel came into existence. The incident would be more accurately described as "Jewish extremists" assassinated the British minister "responsible for Palestine".
*He claimed that theFBI had an office in theWorld Trade Center , which was not the case. However, theCIA , the Department of Defense and other U.S. government agencies did have offices there, and former FBI agentJohn P. O'Neill was the head of security at the Center.
*He claimed a recentDamadola airstrike (missile attack) againstAl Qaeda inPakistan resulted in the deaths of 75 people, none of whom were members of Al Qaeda. The official death count was 18, although some claim as many as 25 were killed, possibly including some who were known Al Qaeda members.Aftermath
Bennish was placed on administrative leave by the Cherry Creek School District, whose policy requires teachers to present varying viewpoints when tackling controversial subjects. Bennish hired
ACLU lawyer David Lane to represent him, and Lane contended that Bennish's First Amendment right to freedom of speech was being jeopardized. Some legal scholars contend that the First Amendment is not protected in a high school setting. When asked in an interview with host Peter Boyles on the Denver radio station KHOW to explain his personal views, Bennish declined and he would not comment on his party affiliation. He also declined an interview with KOA talk radio hostMike Rosen , although Lane encouraged such a dialogue. [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4512315,00.html]Bennish's father, who lives in Bennish's hometown of
Beverly Hills, Michigan , revealed to the media that he had received at least a dozen death threats. [http://cbs4denver.com/topstories/local_story_067094813.html] Bennish himself and Allen also received threats, but no party involved was attacked as a result of the controversy.On March 10, 2006, the Cherry Creek School District announced that it would reinstate Bennish; he returned to Overland the following Monday. Cherry Creek Schools Superintendent Monte Moses said that "Bennish doesn't deserve to be praised, nor does he deserve to be fired" and that "Jay Bennish has promise as a teacher, but his practice and deportment need growth and refinement." [http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_3590417]
Bennish's lawyer said that the teacher would alter his style, "giving both sides more contemporaneously. When he gives the yin, [he'll] give the yang right then and there — don't wait a day, don't wait an hour, don't wait a week. Put it all out at the same time." [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/editorials/article/0,2777,DRMN_23964_4532421,00.html]
Upon returning to the classroom, Bennish conducted a discussion on the controversy and explained the nature of his future classes, which would focus less on classroom discussion and more on textbook-based assignments. Students lamented the change; Leia Schiavone commented: "It's a lot more fun to learn from Mr. Bennish from his lectures than from the textbook. The textbook doesn't have everything that's going on in the world. We're not going to be learning as much." [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_4540008,00.html]
External links
* [http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/pdf/courseSummary.pdf Official summary of the course] (in PDF format)
* [http://pdfserver.ccsd.k12.co.us/OHS_GEOGRAPHY_LECTURE.pdf Transcript of part of the lecture] provided by the Cherry Creek School District (contains errors)
* [http://pro-reason.info/index.php/2006/04/01/bennish-transcript/ Full transcript of recording] (unofficial but accurate)
* [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4508296,00.html "Teacher on leave after comments"] (Rocky Mountain News )
* Audio files of the Jay Bennish recording aired onThe Rush Limbaugh Show along with commentary byRush Limbaugh
** [http://mfile.akamai.com/5020/wma/rushlimb.download.akamai.com/5020/clips/06/03/030306_2_teacher.asx Audio Link "Rush Babies Fight Back Against Liberal Teachers"]
** [http://mfile.akamai.com/5020/wma/rushlimb.download.akamai.com/5020/clips/06/03/030306_7_idiot_teacher.asx Audio Link "Idiot Teacher Justifies 9/11 Attacks"]
* [http://newsbusters.org/node/4330 Unofficial transcript of Jay Bennish interview] withMatt Lauer on the "Today" Show
* [http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/03/03/teacher.bush.ap/index.html Students come to Bennish's defense]
* [http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/richardmyers/CLTP#extended Pro-Bennish blog]
* [http://michellemalkin.com/archives/004691.htm Anti-Bennish blog]
* [http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/search_results?qstring=Jay+Bennish Articles relating to Jay Bennish] atMedia Matters for America
* [http://edwize.org/the-democratic-educator%E2%80%99s-vocation-teaching-how-to-think-not-what-to-think The Democratic Educator’s Vocation: Teaching How To Think, Im gay] - Commentary by Leo Casey
* [http://www.conservativethinking.com/files/draft-bennish-federal-complaint.pdf Court filing] by Bennish against the Cherry Creek School District for prior restraint of his right to talk to the media
* [http://www.ncac.org/education/20060302~CO-Aurora~Teacher_Disciplined_for_Voicing_Political_Views_in_Classroom.cfm Teacher Disciplined for Expressing Political Viewpoints in Colorado Classroom] Commentary from the National Coalition Against Censorship
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