Read more from Hao Mama about the Monkey King.

For more about the history and meaning of Duanwu Jie, see my post from last year.

Activist Kai Chen and former Hacienda La Puente Unified Superintendent John Kramar reviewed the materials for the district’s new Confucius Classroom on Friday.

“That’s part of Chinese infiltration into this country and the corruption of the political culture of America,” Chen said of the classroom, which will be funded by the Chinese Language Council International, or Hanban.

Hacienda La Puente Unified School District officials have allowed the public to view and provide feedback on books, DVDs and other instructional aids that will be used in the Confucius Classroom elective course at Cedarlane Middle School this fall.

After reviewing the books Friday, Kramar and Chen said they believed the Chinese-sponsored literature did not include a thorough account of the nation’s history. They were also concerned about several definitions in a Chinese dictionary they said reflect ideals of Communism.

And from another article from the right-wing New American:

“Though one tiny corner of my conscience says sure, the more the Chinese spend IN the United States the less they’ll have left to compete with and undermine us. But most of me is outraged — and a little bit alarmed.”

People sounded a similar alarm when the Confucius Institute opened at UCLA in 2007, said Susan Pertel, the program’s executive director. “Everybody was concerned we would be told what to do, what to teach,” she said. “That’s not the situation at all. It’s very much a partnership.”

“People accuse us of advancing a Chinese agenda,” said Chen. “They say the Chinese community is taking over. But one of the reasons to have the program is to make Cedarlane more attractive to all students, not just the Chinese.” But the school district’s voters might have a different idea about how to make the schools attractive, said King, the former superintendent.

“Our kids need to be taught Americanism,” he said. “This board is going to pay a price. I think the community is upset enough to vote them out.”

Americanism?

Word is that Jon Stewart will tackle the dispute in an upcoming show.

For those in San Francisco, the Excelsior Branch Library will be showing the full movie tomorrow, May 26. For more information see here.

[This post is cross-posted at Bay Area Mama.)

Ms. Zheng said she spent time clearing up misconceptions about China.

“I want students to know that Chinese people are not crazy,” she said. For instance, one of her students, referring to China’s one-child-per-family population planning policy, asked whether the authorities would kill one of the babies if a Chinese couple were to have twins.

Some students were astonished to learn that Chinese people used cellphones, she said. Others thought Hong Kong was the capital.

Barry Beauchamp, the Lawton superintendent, said he was thrilled to have Ms. Zheng and two other Chinese instructors working in the district. But he said he believed that the guest teachers were learning the most from the cultural exchange.

“Part of them coming here is us indoctrinating them about our great country and our freedoms,” he said. “We’ve seen them go to church and to family reunions, country music concerts, rodeos. So it’s been interesting to see them soak up our culture.”