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In the 1930s academic freedom was also assailed by Communists on the Left. For the most part teachers' unions and professional groups cooperated with or tolerated Communist functionaries throughout the decade. Often Communists were among the most dedicated teachers and were on the cutting edge of educational reform. The Communist-influenced Local #5 of the AFT in New York, for example, led the nation in providing quality education to black students. While flexible in its pedagogy, the Communist Party nonetheless required rigid adherence to orthodox Soviet politics and sought control of many teachers' unions. Before 1935 Communists believed that non-Communist leftists were "social fascists," implicitly giving aid and comfort to reactionaries. In 1934, for example, philosophy professor Sidney Hook, an early left-wing anti-Communist, was simultaneously denounced as a "red" by the Hearst New York American and as a "counterrevolutionary reptile" by the Communists. After 1935 Communists abandoned such rhetoric in...
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This section contains 318 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) |
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