Ask a Teacher: My Child's Class is Reading Rush Limbaugh's Books

[minoanmiss]

I have an 8-year-old in third grade, and I found out yesterday that they are reading the Adventures of Rush Revere series in class. I know they are children’s books and don’t contain the kind of vitriol Limbaugh is known for, but I am still concerned about the subtle messages he may be receiving about Native Americans and black people and their place in American history. Am I overreacting here? Should I talk to his teacher about my concerns? I’d like to take a thoughtful approach rather than one of outrage.

—Trying Not to Rush Judgment


I don’t think you’re overreacting. If my daughter was reading the Rush Revere books in class, I would also wonder why the teacher or school district would choose such a polarizing author when so many other quality titles are available. It strikes me as a foolish decision that is likely to create problems in the future.

But knowing that the class has already begun reading the books, I would also recognize the futility in convincing the teacher to change course at this time. The text could also be a part of the school or district curriculum, which would make a change even more challenging and unlikely.

Instead, I would view this as an opportunity. Find out which books your son is reading and get yourself copies of each one. Read them, too. Find out for yourself if these books contain any subtle messages about minorities and their place in American history. Begin a conversation with your son about explicit and implicit bias and the importance applying a critical eye to everything we read. Encourage your son to ask questions about authors and their possible motives when writing. Turn this into an opportunity to help your son become a more critical, thoughtful reader.

If you do find those subtle messages while reading the books, document your findings and only then bring your concerns to the teacher, well-armed and well informed. It’s entirely possible that the teacher does not know anything about Rush Limbaugh and that these books were chosen based upon a recommendation or even based on cost. Having the evidence to support your position will be important if you hope to eliminate these books from future classrooms.

—Mr. Dicks

Comments

[minoanmiss]

What, most sincerely, the fuck?

[sporky_rat]

It’s entirely possible that the teacher does not know anything about Rush Limbaugh

I beg your possum, what the everliving fuck?

[feldman]

Does she feel the polite response to bad faith is to treat it like an improv exercise?

[conuly]

Yeah, for serious. Does that teacher live under a rock?

[sporky_rat]

My sixteen year old nephew knows who Rush Limbaugh was and Is Not A Fan.

Surely this teacher knows.

[lilysea]

My sixteen year old nephew knows who Rush Limbaugh was and Is Not A Fan.

I'm an AUSTRALIAN who has never stepped foot in the US [not even Hawaii or Alaska or Puerto Rico!]

and I know who Rush Limbaugh is!

Mainly because of this satirical song:

https://youtu.be/H6uanHlJDI4

Coming from Canada, we love those leaders who personify the US way to be
There was JFK, and LBJ, and WKRP
But of all of these there is not one to rival the greatest genius of them all
He's a megalo with a healthy glow
He's the man called Rush Limbaugh
(Mike)
He's a dose of P.T. Barnum
(Murray)
With a Mussolini twist
(All)
There in the limosine, parked on the lawn
He's a goofy Genghis Khan

Not since Jesus Christ has the world seen someone
With such widely sindicated views
Hundreds of years from now they'll celebrate Rush-mas
And Rush-ashana for the Jews
'Cause he'll pull the plug on femi-nazis, paranoid minorities and gays
He's a burning bush with a network push
Sure to start a country-wide blaze
(Mike)
He taught me to love and praise Charlton Heston
(Murray)
Oliver North is quite a nice man too
(All)
Forget Al and Tipper
Let's bring back the Gipper
And Joe McCarthy too!

(Mike)
I was a troubled soul, consumed by voices
Advocating special interest groups and vice
'Till Rush rushed to my sweet rescue
Now I'll never ever hafta think twice
(All)
Never ever hafta think twice...

(All)
So we'll sign a check for Limbaugh-ism
Restore the moral fundamental core
We'll cut the debt
And start a Tet
Offensive on the poor
It's a blitzkrieg in the making, (everybody!)
It's distinctly upper-class (well, not everybody!)
Yes, sir, I'll get the door
Roll the carpet on the floor
For a man...
For a man...
For a man...
Such a man...
For a man....With his head up his- Ask us the name the name of the King - It's Rush!

[melannen]

I work at a library and moms do in fact check out his kids' books who are surprised to learn he was ever anything but a writer. He hasn't really been politically relevant to people under 50 for a decade now.

I mean, you'd hope a teacher would at least do minimum checking, and you'd hope an American history teacher would know the name at least, but if she wasn't trained in history specifically and it was recommended by a trusted source I can honestly see the name not ringing enough of a bell to check. It still doesn't say anything good about her as a teacher though.

[ekaterinn]

It's third grade, so it's likely that the teacher has only had a general social studies methods course in college.

Of more concern is that many schools restrict time for social studies since it is not a tested subject. This could be the main way the students are getting taught American history.

[melannen]

That someone would be teaching American history who only has one general social studies methods course and no particular interest in the topic is its own indictment of the system but that's not news.

[cereta]

My older brother was assigned a middle-school English class one year. He had no real training in teaching English, and frequently says he only reads one book a year. I about cried.

[shirou]

I am a millennial and am good at avoiding rightwing vitriol in the media. I have never heard Rush Limbaugh speak nor read anything he has written. But I know who he is.

[conuly]

Even if it weren't this series, I'd also ask why they're reading more than one book in a series as a class. Read ONE book as a class, have the rest on the shelf while you read something new.

[melannen]

"Reading in class" can cover a lot of ground, the whole range between "we used it as a textbook for an entire month" and "a student brought it in for the 'teacher reads your favorite book aloud at circle time' award".

Given the kind of books they are, my guess (if the teacher hasn't just completely checked out after last year, which is possible!) they're being used as some kind of enrichment, not as the main lesson plan. But who knows.

[azurelunatic]

WHAT
THE
ENTIRE
FUCK

[xenacryst]

hed asplode

[bikergeek]

How the hell does anyone who's not living under a rock not know who Rush Limbaugh is? Or maybe I'm betraying my age (I'm 55) and Millennials (say, anyone under about 40) don't know who he is?

[lemonsharks]

I (34) grew up with people who thought Rush was ushering in a new golden age of moral conservatism.

I do not buy the theory that his books were not chosen specifically for his name on the cover. Nor do I buy the argument that Rush has been irrelevant for years now.

[bikergeek]

I'm inclined to agree with you. The people who put those books on the course reading list knew perfectly well what they were doing.

[melannen]

I would say anyone who is old enough to remember 9/11 should probably at least remember the name.

But there are people with doctorate degrees who aren't old enough to remember 9/11. Even for my generation, the Fox News pundits were much bigger names. Rush kept some of his old audience, and still had influence, but he didn't really get much new audience after about the mid-2000s. Average age for listeners when he died was something like 65 or 70. A person in their early 30s who isn't really interested in politics isn't going to ever have lived in a world where Rush made the news for anything but dying.

Also, never underestimate how many people live under rocks.

If the teacher didn't know who he was, though, I guarantee whoever recommended the books to her was part of the conservative ecosystem somewhere.

[lemonsharks]

I am horrified both by the book selection and by the rallying point it will undoubtedly become for the right if it gets challenged.

[bikergeek]

ZOMG CANCEL CULTURE!!!!!!!onee!!1!eleventy!!1!

[cimorene]

If we were talking about a parent who'd never heard of it, I'd say it's quite possible. For any given person, it's always possible they haven't heard of anything, no matter how universal you thought it was. There's always SOMEONE. And in some situations, assuming good intentions until proven otherwise is the wiser course. But given these circumstances, I think the advice to essentially assume the best is fairly stupid. The odds that the teacher knows and chose this book deliberately are... fairly overwhelming, and assuming good intentions gains you nothing.

This sort of depends on the race, class, and feelings of the parent and the kid though, because the parent complaining about the book in one way or another can be tough for the parent and can result in the teacher resenting and trying to revenge thmselves on the kid later, like the Home Ec teacher who never forgave me because my mom insisted it was discriminatory to require girls to wear skirts or dresses once a week for extra credit (the requirement was removed the semester I had her and reinstated as soon as I left her class).

On the other hand, if the kid is in elementary school, the parent talking to the teacher and pretending to believe the book choice was made in ignorance and 'informing' them in a concerned way of the problems with Limbaugh might work well. Depending on the kid, they might be perfectly happy to be primed with talking points to announce to the class at large whenever the books came up for discussion, and the teacher might well be eager to leave the subject to avoid that. I was sent out into the hallway a couple of times for telling my 2nd grade classmates about Columbus's genocide and George Bush Sr weaseling out of service in Vietnam, and the teachers both got in trouble after my mom put on a suit and came to the school in person to complain to the principal.

[swingandswirl]

What in the actual and entire fuck.

(Also, 'maybe the teacher didn't know' was permissible in the era before Google, but definitely not now.)