Mom who survived Maoist China rips Virginia Democrats' 'ignorant' opposition to teaching evils of communism
State Democrats vote down a bill requiring schools to teach the dangers of communism, claiming it would incite anti-Asian hate
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A survivor of Mao's Revolution in China is pushing back after Virginia Democrats rejected a bill that would requite children to be educated about the evils of communism and honor its victims, dismissing claims the curriculum would be "racist" against Asian-Americans.
"I was in disbelief, and I was angry," Xi Van Fleet said Tuesday on "Fox & Friends First."
"How could these Democrat legislators and the teachers union come to this kind of absurd and disturbing conclusion? The only thing I can think is – they are profoundly ignorant of real history and the history of communism and they themselves are communists."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The decision came earlier this month after the state's largest teachers union opposed the bill by claiming the content would incite racism against Asian-Americans.
Xi Van Fleet, who survived Mao Tse-Tung's communist regime in China, slammed Virginia Democrats who opposed a bill to educate kids on communism. (Fox & Friends First/Screengrab)
"We are concerned that this bill would subject Asian-American students to anti-Asian sentiments," said Emily Yen of the Virginia Education Association.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The organization pointed to the five current communist regimes – North Korea, Laos, China, Vietnam and Cuba – noting that four of the five are East Asian nations.
Others who opposed the bill said the history of communism is already a part of the state's curriculum.
Van Fleet argued the evils of communist regimes who slaughtered millions in the past cannot be ignored.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}VIRGINIA DEMS REJECT NEW COMMUNISM CURRICULUM AFTER TEACHERS UNION SAID IT COULD OFFEND ASIANS
Mao Tse-Tung, chair of the Chinese Communist Party, on a balcony clapping his hands. (Getty Images)
"Communism is not Asian. It is from Europe," she told Fox News' Todd Piro. "From its conception, communism has claimed more than 100 million lives and most of them are Asians.
"In China alone, Mao killed up to 80 million Chinese and that does not include more than 400 million babies through forced abortion and because of their one-child policy. Communism brought so much suffering to people in all Asian countries, and you think we love communism? It is absolutely not only absurd, but evil."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NEW HAMPSHIRE CONSIDERING NEW CURRICULUM FOR SCHOOLS WHICH WOULD INCLUDE COMMUNISM, CURSIVE
Seventy elder party members from Bejing arrive to commemorate the 121st Aniversary Of Chairman Mao's Birthday on December 25, 2014 in Shaoshan, Hunan province of China. (Getty Images)
Van Fleet added, "It is so important that we teach communism to our children and to the American public in general because communism is here, here in America."
"The reason that so many people do not recognize wokeness as Marxism, as communism, is because they do not know what real communism is."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Joe Mobley, a concerned Virginia father of four, chimed in on the segment.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It seems that they are just fearful of [allowing] students to know actual history while they're trying to repeat the mistakes of the past," he said.
"They're actively trying to infuse the public education system with Marxism and they don't want them to know how it's failed gloriously in the past. They're saying that it's racist, they're saying that it's anti-Asian, which is literally absurd because communism has led to the deaths of over 100 million Asians, but they don't want that fact of history actually taught in schools."
Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report.