On November 17, 2018, Rodney Robinson, who was just named 2019 National Teacher of the Year, spoke at a TEDx youth conference in Richmond, Virginia. Robinson, a black social studies and history teacher at a Richmond juvenile detention center, opened his remarks with a lead-in to his main topic: a racist America.  If, as Sean Hannity says, "journalism is dead," after listening to Robinson, we can safely add, "Public education is dead."

From YouTube:

There is one phrase I hate more than any other phrase in America, and I'm sure a lot of the young people in this room can relate to this phrase, and that phrase is "back in the day."

Why does the 40-year-old teacher of the year "hate" this phrase?  Well, it has to do with those obnoxious parents and grandparents — you know, the ones who fought wars, raised families, went to church, and slogged off to work every day.  They are full of baloney, according to Robinson, whose grade school–level prattle belies his achievement of a master’s degree.  "Back in the day," Robinson jokes, they tell their kids and grandkids we didn't have "Mybook or Snapgram," and "we had to be in before the streetlights came on."

When I think of "back in the day," Robinson told the young people, "I think of a time when black people were lynched for violating the various rules and regulations upholding white supremacy."

Robinson was born almost 15 years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and well after the initiation of affirmative action policies, which makes his memories of  "back in the day" lynchings ludicrous. Moreover, it does not occur to the "best teacher" in the United States, out of 1.5 million, that the phrase he "hates" serves him well when he reminds the young people that the greatest nation on Earth was and is nothing but a hotbed of white supremacy, racism, bigotry, and injustice toward oppressed groups.  "Back in the day" is okay as long as Robinson is trashing the United States.

While two state teachers of the year declined to participate in the White House ceremony because of their opposition to President Trump's immigration and LGBT policies, the national winner, Robinson, told a reporter he would attend to represent the slaves who built the White House.  "It's not about Trump," he said.  Later, President Trump decided to skip the event this year.  The White House had no comment on why the president chose to pass on awarding the crystal apple trophy to Robinson in the formal ceremony but did meet privately with Robinson in the Oval Office.

President Trump praised Robinson's work with juvenile offenders despite the teacher's brutal criticism of the president in his TEDx talk.  POTUS must be used to left-wing teachers winning the coveted award.  In 2017 and 2018, each teacher made no secret of her disdain for President Trump and his policies.  The 2018 winner, Mandy Manning, even refused to shake Trump's hand.  Sydney Chaffee, the 2017 winner, believes that "education is a tool for social justice."

Before Robinson tore into President Trump in his talk, he revealed his views on, of all things, abortion.  When others say "back in the day," Robinson told the group, "I think of a time when women died and had to deal with the pains and scars of back-alley abortions."

He went on to remind the audience, mostly students, about the time "gays and lesbians were demonized as the people who spread AIDS and other diseases."

After this, Robinson somehow transitioned into technology, the age of anxiety, and children "wondering whether the planet will even be there when they grow up."

Then it was on to bullying; the brave Parkland student activists marching for gun control; and finally the Trump administration, which "insults minorities, that denies the rights of gays, lesbians and transgender peoples, a government that separates asylum seeking families and locks their children in cages.  [It] is not the adults who must stand up to these inhumane acts; it's the children who must lead the way, so rise up, young people."

Mr. Robinson taught at traditional public schools before moving on to teaching incarcerated juveniles.  His grasp of history and social studies goes no farther than passing his hatred of whites, America, a Republican president, and the constitutional right to bear arms on to his students.  Robinson cannot check his political agenda at the door of his classroom because, like so many indoctrinated and radicalized teachers today, pouring the "America, Trump and whitey bad" slop into his students' heads is his only area of expertise.

Image: TEDx Talks via YouTube.