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

[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.