Customer Reviews

Lynched: A Conservative's Life on a New York City School Board

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I also read Frank Borzellieri's two previous books about race and immigration, which were both a collection of his newspaper columns, and realized that he was truly a talented writer. But this book is different in that it tells what he personally went through as a school board member in a very liberal city such as New York.
At first I couldn't believe that he could even get elected in New York. But the book explains that his district was a conservative white area. He also explains that the other whites on the school board hypocritically promoted multi-racialism and integration, but lived in white neighborhoods.
What is most fascinating about the book are the details Borzellieri explains in each individual controversy. He reports how he needed a police escort out of a raucous school board meeting when he was verbally (and viciously) attacked for four hours. The cops later told him that they supported everything he was saying.
Whether it is about liberals banning pro-American books, liberals promoting failed bilingual education programs, liberals opposing a resolution that stated that Western culture was superior to all others, or liberals defending a gay teacher who discussed his lifestyle in front of his class, this book tells the story of all those battles. I would add that Borzellieri freely and painfully admits that he lost almost every vote on the board. But still he battled courageously for the values he and his community believed in.
Other reviewers have detiailed the individual controversies, so I will simply point out that Borzellieri was clearly, if you add up the votes, the most popular vote-getter in his district, once gaining three times the votes of the second-place finisher.
What also stands out about the book is Borzellieri's sense of humor. He destroys his opponents' arguments (what one reviewer referred to as their "babbling idiocy") with biting humor and straight-forward quips.
I can't recommend this book enough. A great, great read.

This is a fascinating memoir, a quick-read, and a brilliant case study in a plight of one of New York's city's few ideologically pure conservatives.

With a clear, concise, and humorous style, Borzellieri chronicles his experiences serving on the School Board of District 24 in Queens. Any conservative will admire Borzellieri's vigilance in standing up for conservative values against almost unimaginable hostility. Borzellieri's writing style is conducive to empathy: indeed the reader feels as though he or she is at often raucous and boorish school board meetings. Borzellieri is ideologically aggressive at these meetings, but usually the only gentleman....

Few will agree with all of Borzellieri's political and ideological positions. But this really misses the point. Anyone will heartfelt political convictions, who stands against the tide, can relate to Borzellieri's plight, and his steadfastness in pursuing what he knows is right.

Indeed, the most fascinating aspect of the book is the hypocrisy of Borzellieri's opponents. Therefore, this books serves as an interesting read not only for conservatives, but for anyone who is intellectually honest, and believes that ideas should rise and fall on their own merits.

A great book!

This book should be read by everyone that is interested in our government school systems. As a former school board member, I can attest to the fact that this treatment is alive and well in all school districts. People need to know what is being taught. They need to know how most board members get elected. The union and the left control our schools.

Soft headed liberals beware! This is an ho holds barred account of liberal hypocrisy and what one true conservative did to stick to his values. A MUST read.

This is a one of a kind book, the likes of which I have never read before. The author tells the story of what it was really like to be a committed outspoken conservative on a school board in New York surrounded by liberals. Frank Borzellieri is not your typical establishment conservative. He is really a Eurocentric libertarian. I hardly know where to begin in praising this book. Each chapter is devoted to a separate controversial issue in which Borzellieri was "lynched" by his fellow school board members. Typical is the chapter when the board voted to ban Borzellieri's list of books from the schools - this included a biography of George Washington! How a school board in the United States, and in New York City no less, can ban a book on Washington and get away with it is beyond me.

Through it all, Borzellieri documents how he was defiant in standing up to all those liberals. He makes the point consistently that the biggest culprits were white liberals from white conservative neighborhoods who ignored the values of their neighbors in order to suck up to the politically correct establishment. Borzellieri's contempt for that group especially comes through.

Then there were his battles to stop multiculturalism and bilingualism. He relates a story of a Hispanic activist who came to a school board meeting and issued a veiled threat to Borzelllieri if he didn't resign from the board. Borzellieri dared him to beat him on election day. Great stuff! He then used the man's threatening letter to raise money for his re-election campaign. (By the way, despite establishment opposition to him, Borzellieri was always the top vote getter.)

All in all, the book is written in a delightfully engaging and enjoyable manner. Borzellieri has a biting sense of humor as he sticks it to the liberals on the school board. There is a funny section in the back with photos of the board members and their liberal voting records.

Finally, this book should give us pause as to whether or not we should tolerate the harassment and attempts to silence an elected official, just because he has a conservative point of view. I highly recommend this book as a crucial story that needs to be read and told.

The author is a complete moron and a shill for the plutocracy. The purchase of this book is a complete and total waste of hard earned money

Although people in general know that the public school system in America is a disaster and is dominated by liberals, this fantastic book reveals the true details of how liberals on this New York City school board are anti-American to the core and impose their corrupted values on the education system.
Frank Borzellieri's writing is informative, riveting and often hilarious as he exposes the hypocrisy of liberals. For example, Borzellieri opposes books that denigrate Western culture, but the school board funded these multicultural books and put them in the classrooms. But when Borzellieri proposed adding a biography of George Washington, the school board banned it! That is absolutely incredible! They also banned a book about the Battle of Lexington and Concord and Daniel Boone, but allowed a book called "Jambo Means Hello: the Swahili Alphabet."
Borzellieri also reveals how he got no help at all from the school board when he tried to stop a gay teacher from discussing his homosexuality in front of his class. The details in this book are depressing but very indicative of the state of public education.
One of the interesting chapters is when Borzellieri proposed a resolution stating that American culture was superior to other cultures, like those which practice female genital mutilation. The liberals opposed him on that, too. Borzellieri was very specific. The resolution said that capitalism was superior to communism and that freedom of religion was superior to religious oppression - but the school board was even against that! I couldn't believe what I was reading.
Because of his outspoken conservative values, Borzellieri tells of how he needed the police to follow him home because he received threats against his safety. He also voted against bilingual education, stating that it kept foreign children from learning English. Naturally, he was opposed by the liberals on that, too.
Borzellieri bravely goes after his detractors, calling board members "white liberal hypocrites" because they all lived in white neighborhoods even though they kept claiming to love racial integration. A hilarious section in the back of the book shows photos of board members with their voting records, revealing their extreme liberalism. Great stuff!
I have read all of Frank Borzellieri's books (including The Unspoken Truth: Race, Culture and Other Taboos and Don't Take It Personally: Race, Immigration, Crime and Other Heresies) and have been a big fan for many years. In this latest book, he is at his best. "Lynched" is a must read for American patriots who want to read about what actually happened on the inside of a New York City school board.
Frank Borzellieri is a man of great courage. Buy this book!