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A math teacher says she has lost her job at a private school in Southern California for speaking out in defense of Western Civilization - even though she made her comments outside the classroom.
Dr. Karen Siegemund, president of the Los Angeles-based American Freedom Alliance, gave a speech in May at the group’s “Long March Through the Institutions” conference, which “ explored the Left’s ongoing multi-decade takeover attempt of numerous public and private institutions to effect a radical transformation of America.”
During her speech, she said “each of us here believes in the unparalleled force for good that is Western Civilization, that is our heritage, whether we were born here or not.”
“It’s kind of shocking, isn’t it,” Siegemund told Mike Huckabee in a recent interview about the experience, noting she has been a teacher for almost 20 years.
“Because of my outside activities, I was told my contract would not be renewed. I praised Western Civilization, and how it’s brought the greatest good to the most number of people, and we are all its beneficiaries, including those not even from here, and that was deemed hostile,” she said.
Huckabee said he thought there might be something more to the story:
“Surely you did not just get fired just because you believe in Western Civilization?”
“No, I did,” she replied.
“I see myself as an educator,” Siegemund added, “and I want all my students to learn critical thinking, to explore, to be skeptical, to value those things that we value, to grow as an individual, that’s always been my stance, which I guess is also problematic. Because there are other teachers who denigrate the president in the classroom, who wear ‘resist’ T-shirts, who promote all kinds of various leftist policies in the classroom — that’s apparently fine — because their contracts have been renewed.”
“I even hesitated to wear anything with an American flag, not hesitated — I did not wear anything with an American flag on it — for fear of that being sort of too subversively patriotic … But I have promoted freedoms and independent thought.”
Apparently the conference might have been the final straw. But Siegemund has launched a GoFundMe page and says she plans to fight the “unfair termination.”
“I am just standing up for what I believe is right,” she told Huckabee.
Her story has resonated with several observers, including on Ricochet and PolitiChicks.
