Standing Up When You are the Silent Minority

6/22/2017

Standing Up When You are the Silent Minority

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I write a lot about not only accepting your reality but embracing it. The good and the bad. The idea is to accept so that you can learn from your life situations and embrace so you can find value even when things feel unbearable. I call it The Gift of the Struggle. It’s what gets me through a lot.

But there are times when you should not accept. Times to stand up and speak out against that which is wrong and unjust. I work hard to teach my five kids to use their voices and stand for their beliefs. This balance between embracing your reality and knowing when it is time to reject it is sometimes a difficult line to walk.

Yesterday, however, the choice was clear. My son, an incoming senior in high school brought me a copy of his AP Government reading list.

“The reading list is pretty bad,” he said. “I think you need to take a look.”

Bad was an understatement. There were FIVE titles from Michael Savage. One from Ann Coulter. One from Sheriff Richard Mack. The list goes on and on – 31 options. They were anti-climate change, anti-liberal, pro-Christian, etc. This is a public school, by the way. Of the 31 choices, there were probably two that I found acceptable and they weren’t ideal. There was not one academic book on the list and zero historical/intellectual options.
Here is my point of view: I encourage my children to read things they disagree with. To listen to those with opposing perspectives. To be open to ideas other than theirs, but to stand up for their beliefs respectfully. This list did not encourage that philosophy. It presented one side. And one side filled with pop culture personalities who spew hate and rhetoric – not intellectual, respected authors who offer well-educated ideas from different points of view. And how is my 17 year-old son, who is the Southeast Regional Director for the State of Alabama for High School Democrats of America supposed to sit in this class and feel he has a voice?

Take a look at the list:

I posted this list in a closed progressive group in which I participate. The reaction was fierce. Outrage. Incredulity. Action. It was intense and it was immediate.
I immediately emailed the teacher and copied the principal on it asking questions. Giving the teacher a chance to offer an explanation. No response. Here is my email:

Mr. Ponder,

My son just printed the AP Government and Economics reading list and I have a few questions. The list is predominantly populated with one perspective. A conservative one. I would like to know your reasoning for choosing this list and what perspective you plan to teach these books from. Can you identify the value you hope to offer in terms of choosing this list?

Can you let me know why there are no titles that would offer an alternate perspective or a balance to the list you have provided?

If you had provided both points of view in your selections and had students chose one from each perspective, I would see the value in debating the points of view and showing students the presentation of opposing views. But that is not the case here.

Also, several authors are not those I would expect to see from an academic class. Those chosen are more pop culture type pundits rather than those who would offer academic, intellectual schools of thought on conservative policy.

There are several books on the list written by people I find truly offensive and believe are hateful in rhetoric and philosophy. How will these books/authors be handled in your class?

I welcome your discussion as I was truly shocked at the political slant in your selections.

I believe in giving people the chance to respond before I act. When the teacher did not respond, I called the principal. He said, and I believe he was sincere, that this was the first he had heard of the list and he was retracting the assignment and planned to speak with the teacher. I inquired about what I should do if this teacher taught his class from this perspective, and he told me he wants to know. I believe that.

Here is what I find interesting. As this post went around the internet, there were many who had experienced this teacher. Their children were not surprised about this list. They indicated that he taught class from his right-wing perspective for more than a decade and that this reading list had been used for several years. Many parents were uncomfortable and talked to their children about how to handle his class. But as far as I can tell, no one complained to the school. No one confronted the teacher. If they did, they did it quietly.

I have some thoughts on the reasons for this. I live in Spanish Fort, Alabama. It is a VERY conservative area of the country. I am not conservative at all. When I first moved here from Pensacola, FL five years ago, I did not realize I would not find any like-minded people – because they were all staying under the radar. If you are a liberal here, you tend to just be quiet to avoid conflict with pretty much everyone you know. When you unexpectedly find a fellow liberal, it’s a little private party where you jump up and down…on the inside.

This attitude of hiding has created a culture of a silent minority. Parents seem to hesitate to speak out. I think there is fear of a negative impact on our children if we complain about a list like this. That fear is not unfounded. But is that enough to remain silent?

The silver lining of the hostile political climate we are now enduring is that people are coming together for a cause. Through these closed political social media groups, I have discovered that there are a lot more people like me in lower Alabama than I ever knew. The support and common ground we have found in knowing each other has empowered more and more of us to become active locally and to speak up for our beliefs – even in the face of name calling (which has occurred to my own 19 year-old daughter in the discussion of this list). What has the world come to when a teenager is called names by a middle-aged man for expressing her point of view? Her point of view that the silent minority shared and became the vocal minority for?

I have to say, I am proud of the swift action the community took to right this wrong. And it goes to show that when people come together for a common cause and take action, change can be swift and decisive. Onward.

44 Comments

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Leslie Mulcahy

6/22/2017 11:21:45 am

This school has a history of non-acceptance of any belief system that varies from the ultra conservative, christian, white "norm". Others in the county are slightly better, but just barely. There are quite a few of us out there who think for ourselves. When we speak out we are often vilified. That should never stop us from speaking.

Haley

6/22/2017 07:33:45 pm

Please pull your head out of your ass.

Mary

6/23/2017 01:11:58 am

Well, comments like that aren't productive. If you take issue with what someone has to say, explaining your opinion goes a lot farther that throwing insults.

Elizabeth Denham

6/23/2017 07:16:36 am

Please watch your language. I am sorry that you choose to communicate using offensiveness rather than dialogue.

Stephanie link

6/22/2017 12:17:40 pm

Bravo! Thank you for standing up for our children, their education and for rational thinking and a rational approach to dealing with opposing views.

In this case, political affiliation is irrelevant. Every parent should be concerned that their child is being denied a well-rounded education when only one side of ANY issue is presented, nevermind that one side is being actively promoted. I would be interested in reviewing Mr. Ponder's grading rubric. Does he value facts, well-written assignments and opposing views? Or is his grading weighted and dependent upon his opinion?

I have no idea what college Mr. Ponder attended to earn his teaching degree, but most address this exact scenario from and ethics standpoint: whether or not teachers have the right to use their authority to espouse certain beliefs, thereby influencing their students. I think Mr. Ponder was absent that day.

I also take issue with the principal. Unless he is brand new to the school, I highly doubt that no complaints have reached his office.

Again, thank you for bringing this into the light and addressing it in such a professional manner. I wish you and your family the best in the coming school year.

6/23/2017 07:17:53 am

Thank you!

Noah

6/22/2017 05:59:59 pm

Where should I begin? I think I'll start with the most obvious thing. This course is a college level class. Regardless of your feelings, a college class is going to have some sort of slant. Did your son tell you that in the previous AP class, the teacher had them read from a socialist every night? Did he tell you that the teacher openly promoted the she devil who failed for the third time in a row this past November? Did he personally try to get the list changed? No, he didn't. He came home and whined to his mommy who decided to get up and right something about it. Your son is apparently a senior. A 17 year old should be able to handle his problems without his mother. I've taken Gene's course. If your child had presented an alternative with a good reason, he would have been allowed to use it instead. But unfortunately, the left doesn't believe in a solution. The left only wants to force others to speak in the same way they do. They left could be standing in a fire, and about victory because they were right, rather than move out of a fire. People like you and your son are what ruin the world. You and anyone who is outraged about this list, but is completely okay with the indoctrination of students by left wing garbage, are pathetic. You've raised your son to be a spineless, gutless coward, rather than a man.

Cara Stallman

6/22/2017 10:29:21 pm

whoa dude. open dialog - no personal insults. We are living in a civilized society, right?

Adam

6/22/2017 10:45:46 pm

*sigh*

While your comment is a rambling, incoherent, hate-filled mess, it's still pretty easy to deduce that you are #1 - a child with no life experience...

and #2: have some very deep seated emotional and psychological issues. Seek help before you hurt yourself or someone else.

Jenny

6/23/2017 12:00:40 am

And clearly taking Gene's course made you a much better person and thinker. Wow.

6/23/2017 07:21:56 am

Noah,

I am sorry for you that you have been taught to communicate using vitriol, anger and insult. I hope that as you mature, you will learn that the tools to effective communication include respectful dialogue, open-mindedness and a willingness to listen and consider another's point of view. These tools help guide you toward common ground and a better understanding of those with whom you disagree. I try to teach my children to be the change they want to see in the world. I hope that your comments do not reflect the change you would like to see in the world.

Tom

6/24/2017 10:20:31 am

Hey Noah, I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish here, but the issue is the reading list. And that reading list is not college level, it is barely "Top 20 Most popular at Barnes and Noble" level. And yes, you can have a class that presents both sides - pretty easily. Being from Alabama I am always surprised by the type of intellectual dishonesty that exists among many of it's residents - the type you espouse here. In short, apparently you are only able to be comfortable if nothing you hold dear is challenged - religion, politics,...you name it. Which is one of the reasons why Alabama is leading (and has always lead) a race to the bottom. Apparently, if the kids read Das Kapital, they are so weak in their up-briging and beliefs that they might become socialists? Of course, if they don't read it, they won't have a clue as to what it is about to even carry and intelligent conversation. More amazingly, you think, apparently, by reading Ann Coulter or Savage (who have no credentials AT ALL, their books are mere opinion not based on scholarship or generally accepted facts) they are going to be uneducated? Jeesh man, toughen up! It sounds like a real AP class would do you some good. And Spanish Fort HS needs to work on it's game too.

David Preston

6/24/2017 10:49:34 am

Tom,

If it makes you feel better about yourself to use big words like intellectual dishonesty to make fun of and criticize people that you don't agree with then certainly By all means go right ahead, but Noah myself and most everybody else realize what you're doing.

You want arguments that are based in scholarship and generally accepted facts?

Let me relate to you a personal experience from my life at the University of South Alabama in Mobile of all places.

My political philosophy professor at the University of South Alabama had the audacity to stand up in front of the class and try to convince us that Thomas Jefferson would support a man's right to rape abducted murder 5 year old little girls because Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

No I didn't go crying to my mother asking for my diaper to be changed or go crying to the dean of the University saying that it's unfair and makes me feel offended that a political science Professor would say that in a political science class you know what I did?

I stood up in front of the class told that Uber liberal professor that he was the stupidest SOB that is ever tried to teach me anything. I told him that he was taking one phrase of one sentence out of the libraries of works that Thomas Jefferson wrote throughout his life and misconstruing that one phrase of one sentence to support an absolutely ridiculous argument. I told that Professor that he has to take the totality of the works that Thomas Jefferson wrote throughout his life, including the numerous correspondence that he conducted with numerous clergy of different Faith's in America to get a true understanding of what Thomas Jefferson would have believed on that subject.

I also further told him that he is taking one phrase of one sentence in one document that Thomas Jefferson wrote this not even an original Thomas Jefferson phrase, because John Adams made him go back and change life liberty and property to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Just so you know I made an A in that class because that political science Professor was trying to get somebody to argue with him but not just argue with him know why they were arguing with him and be able to back up their argument.

I would have not had the confidence and the knowledge to be able to have that argument with that professor in college if it had not been for two of my teachers in high school one of which was coach Ponder.

While you may disagree with the political opinions of people like Michael Savage and Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck to just completely dismiss them as uneducated or uninformed means you're doing the same exact thing that over conservative pundits in the media do to liberals. It's not right when conservatives do it to liberals and it's certainly not right when liberals do it to conservatives.

I miss the days when the different political philosophies could carry on a civil and spirited discussion that actually led to some sort of compromised or LED to some sort of result that was good for all of them Erica instead of just focusing on winning all the time.

Guy Chapman link

7/15/2017 01:54:52 am

Wow, David, you must be so proud of yourself, knowing so much more than your professors and maintaining meticulous objectivity in the face of everybody else being so obviously biased.

Here's why Das Kapital is required reading: it is the foundational text of Marxism, one of the most important ideologies of the 20th Century. I would expect any student of economics to read this book, along with Hayek, Mises and the rest.

I would expect a student of 20th Century history to read Mein Kampf.

These are important books read and studied by serious people who disagree profoundly with every word in them. I think it is fair to say that the maunderings of Michael Savage will never feature in a top ten list of 21st Century political thought.

7/15/2017 01:46:30 am

OK, so you missed the bit where she explicitly said she'd be fine with one from each perspective, and you missed the bit where she pointed out that these are not academic authors but right-wing hacks, pundits with no credentials to be on a reading list.

There are five entries on this list by Michael Savage, a bigoted right-wing talk radio blowhard and quack who is banned from entering the United Kingdom due to incitement to criminal behaviour. His publishers are his own imprint and Nelson Current, which is essentially WorldNetDaily's house imprint (Nelson acquired this in 2003 as a subsidiary of World Bible Publishers). No reputable reading list would include this crap.

There's a book pimping climate change denial written by Larry Bell, who has no qualifications in climate science whatsoever so it's not surprising that his arguments have been repeatedly shown to be bullshit. This is not a reputable book, it is worthless. There are much better books to understand the politics of climate science (e.g. Merchants of Doubt).

How content would you be to see Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot on this list? I don't think any liberal would expect that either.

7/15/2017 03:45:43 pm

Guy either you did not read my entire statement or your bigotry and prejudice against conservatives and conservative political thought has blinded you to the point that you basically are proving the point that I made in my regional post about my professor at South Alabama. The professor at South Alabama did not actually believe what he said in class, what he was trying to do was provoked somebody into an argument so that they would argue with him. But he didn't want just any argument he wanted somebody that knew what they were talking about could back up their arguments with examples of works that Thomas Jefferson had written and carry on an intelligent respectful discussion.

I was able to do that because I had read a lot of the works that Thomas Jefferson had written before I had ever gone into that classroom. Do you want to know where I learned how to argue in that fashion argue with facts and examples that you know to be true? I learn that in coach Ponder class. I learned that by debating coach Ponder and having them challenge me and my assertions when I would make an argument. And if I just said well CNN said or Fox News said or even Rush Limbaugh said he'd be like prove it and if I couldn't prove it he be like you need to go back and read more.

By the way just so you know I'm going to go challenge you and the assertion that those are not academic books. I'm going to be going to the book store in the next few days and pulling these books off this reading list and looking at how many pages their bibliographies are, which I can probably guess is going to be more than you're giving them credit for.

Plus your assertion that you would be okay with a reading list full of conservative authors as long as they were academic books is discounted by your own very argument that you claim that these authors are nothing but conservative political hacks without giving any evidence to the fact that they are. So where's your proof that Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter and the guys that wrote Freakonomics are conservative political hacks? Cuz you might be able to claim that they are and in your opinion you might believe that but that doesn't make what they have to say any less important. And as to your claims about climate change denial, contrary to what Democrats liberals and environmentalist would like you to believe, anthropogenic climate change is not settled science.

7/15/2017 05:17:49 pm

I did read your response in full, and calling people bigots because they reject the use of academcially worthless polemical material by unqualified pundits, is not in any way productive.

Savage is racist and a bigot and is banned from the UK. Those are facts. Feel free to check the books in detail, my point was that several could immediately, with a few seconds of Googling, be verified as worthless. That includes Savage's books and the climate change denial book. Maybe one or two are valid, that is irrelevant because the issue is (a) some are invalid, and that is unquestionably the case, and (b) the list overall is heavily biased.

School teaching should not be propaganda.

7/15/2017 05:42:57 pm

You mean the same country that is trying to kill an 11 year old boy because the treatment for his illness is too expensive for their single-payer socialist Healthcare System to pay for thinks that Michael Savage is a racist? Well hell if those are the type of people that think Michael Savage is a racist I need to rethink my opinion of Michael Savage!

By the way you're not going to goad me into defending a conservative pundit that I don't agree with most of the time and don't particularly care for. The fact that the only incident of support you could come up with of why you think Michael Savage is a racist and a bigot is that these people over here think he is so he must be is the exact type of groupthink that is so pervasive in the American education system and it's the same type of group think that coach Ponder is trying to break the cycle of!

Coach Ponder does not care if you are a liberal or a conservative or a Libertarian or an anarchist the only thing coach Ponder cares about is that you know why you believe what you believe and can back up your arguments with facts figures statistics and other information.

If each one of the students in coach Ponder class had picked a book off that reading list read the book and wrote a scathing rebuttal of the book that they read and presented it in class as long as the rebuttals were full of facts and figures and the supported their counterpoints to each one of the arguments in the books every one of the students would get an A on the assignment!

By the way just to give you a little insight into the type of conservative libertarian that I am the radio host that I listen to on a regular basis or Sean Sullivan of the local radio station and Phil Valentine who is a nationally syndicated libertarian radio talk show host out of Nashville. I also regularly listen to programs on NPR like weekend edition with Scott Simon on the media with Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield All Things Considered and on and on and on. I love reading journalists and pinion authors like John Archibald of al.com Kyle Whitmire Quin hilyer Brendan Kirby Alex Pappas and Jeff poor.

I tried to get my information from all sorts of different sources so that I can decide for myself what is the best and most reliable information to help me form the opinions that I do. You want to know where I learn that from one of the places I learned that from was coach Ponder class.

So yes I will sit here and call you a bigot and prejudiced because you don't know the whole story you haven't taken one of his classes and neither has the girl that filed the complaint the other day with the Baldwin County School Board. By the way passing judgement on something before you know all the facts and know the whole story and have experienced it yourself is the very definition of prejudice and being prejudiced makes you a bigot

7/16/2017 02:26:20 pm

If you mean Charlie Gard, he's 10 months old, he has a genetic condition which has already lead to permanent brain damage, he is deaf, he cannot see, he cannot breathe unaided, he has zero chance of ever getting better, and his doctors believe that continuing to treat him is not in his best interests. This is a child welfare case, it has nothing to do with how the NHS is funded. It also has nothing to do with race. Michael Savage is a bigot, and, more relevantly, his writing has no academic merit. It should not be a set text at this level. It's not my judgement that Savage is a bigot, he is banned from entering the UK for incitement of violence. He is not just a racist bigot, he is an equal opportunities bigot, equally vile to a wide range of different people. He accuses veterans with PTSD of being "weak". I have had PTSD. I do not recommend it. He is an asshole to autistic people. He is an asshole to Muslims. But the problem is not that he's a bigot and an asshole, the problem is that his writings are academically worthless.

6/22/2017 07:32:10 pm

You contradicted yourself within your own writing. "I encourage my children to read things they disagree with. To listen to those with opposing perspectives. To be open to ideas other than theirs, but to stand up for their beliefs respectfully. This list did not encourage that philosophy." How did it not encourage your philosophy when supposedly everything on there is everything YOU disagree with? (I say you because it sounds like YOU are the one telling your kids what to believe in. You want them to be "like-minded" like you.)

If he was really that upset over it, why did he not say something to the teacher himself? You should let him deal with his problems HIMSELF...for Christ sake he will be in college soon. You act like you will always be there to hold his hand every step of the way, but, you won't. He won't know why to do when mommy isn't around to tell his College Professor that he doesn't like the assignment he was given.

Also, you don't know what it is like to be the silent majority, nor will you ever. You don't know what the stuggle really is. This article is truly a joke.

6/23/2017 01:37:27 am

There is a huge difference in academic works that present a sourced and reasoned argument for political theory and political propaganda pieces that use emotional appeals and logical fallacies to promote a political belief over others. The problem with the reading list is that the vast majority of the selections were propaganda rather than academic, and all were heavily slanted to one side. Schools should present facts and reasoning for several different viewpoints, and cultivate critical thinking and discussion on those merits.

6/23/2017 07:28:22 am

Haley,

As you mature, I would encourage you to look at works in their full context and their full meaning. Taking a few sentences out to argue without considering the entire text does not represent the whole. Also, recognize that as a parent, I have to decide when it is time to let a child make decisions and handle situations and when it is time to step in.

Keep in mind that sarcasm and condescension are not effective tools of communication to foster the betterment of understanding and resolution between those who disagree. If resolution and understanding are not your goals for communication, you may want to consider the reasons why you communicate with others.

7/15/2017 02:06:03 am

Silent majority? I don't think a majority of Americans, silent or otherwise, buys into bigotry of the type Savage promotes.

Aimee

6/22/2017 10:16:35 pm

When I came across this on flip board I assumed someone from outside the area must have submitted it to a national site! I knew, theoretically, that there must be other people who found sf schools to be unapologetically regressive but as you mentioned, it's not something one brings up in public here!
Thank you for bringing this to light.

Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.
Euripides, The Bacchae

Janet Hinton

6/22/2017 10:39:26 pm

Good teachers should give reading lists which include varying positions, not promoting only one side. The goal is to teach students differing viewpoints so that they can make their own intelligent decisions and form their own opinions. This teacher's reading list did none of that. He was short-changing his students by assuming they needed someone to tell them how to think. Students deserve better than that.

anon

6/23/2017 01:53:11 am

I'm a student at SFHS and I couldn't agree more. I've grown to absolutely despise the school in just the couple years I've spent here, due to being called "liberal dyke" , "feminazi" , "Killary Supporter" , etc.. My encounters with Mr. Ponder have been brief, but I can say I'm not shocked by the reading list. I attended one of his meetings for the Young Libertarians Club, just out of curiosity. I was one of the two girls there. He spewed his opinions on gay rights, Obama, liberalism, global warming, gun control, etc., and I knew quite fast I didn't belong there. Of course there will be white boys defending Ponder as if he's a "great man" like yeah, he probably was a "great man" to you. You're a straight, white, male who shares his views. If I were to be asked about my blunt opinion on SFHS I would say I'm surrounded by white rednecks and I feel totally alone there. Knowing there are others with my same views in SF, laying low and avoiding conflict, is comforting. Still doesn't mean I'm not counting down the damn minutes until I can get out of this town (lol).

Smith link

6/23/2017 06:56:07 am

Thank you so much for this. I am a teacher and am appalled at this reading list. With the exception of "Lies My Teacher Told Me," there is not a remotely academic title on that list. I would welcome works of differing viewpoints from conservative to moderate to liberal, but most of these are just seedy, knee-jerk alt-right propaganda. I know it took courage to stand up for your child and call out this travesty of the educational process. Please know that others of the silent minority, of which progressive thinkers most certainly are in the Deep South, feel very appreciative.

6/23/2017 07:14:39 am

Thank you so much!

Matt

6/23/2017 07:20:09 am

I've lived in Daphne since 1997, and I can tell you as a liberal I often feel like a man on annisland surrounded by sharks. It's not just that we are often a loan blue voice in a sea of red. It's the visceral hate that gets spewed our way on a daily basis (normally not to us specifically, but to liberals in general) it's the clearl and present level of both disrespect, distrust, and distaste for anything but a conservative position. I've lost friends because of my political beliefs. I get everyone else's ideas of liberals projected on me all the time, none of which are true of me or the liberal ideology as a whole. I've never been the silent minority. I've been very very vocal in my political beliefs for as long as I can remember, but it does no good. I started debating politics around the age of 18 or 19 (the Bush/Kerry election) trying desperate to convince people of the benefits of a liberal ideology, or at least find some common ground. People weren't mean or hateful then, they just wouldn't listen. During he obama administration something changed. Suddenly democrats were unamerican, anti Christian, anti capitalism and hell bent on destroying our country. I tried to explain (till I was blue in the face) how this was just a bunch of propaganda spread by right wing blogger and right wing talk radio show hosts, and of course Fox News, but no one would listen. It fit into this nice near narrative, once where everything was clear, black or white, right or wrong, left or right. No in between, no middle ground, no shades or grey. I've seen people proudly praise republicans for voting NO to every single thing Obama supported, and then in the same breath call democrats obstructionist who were unwilling to compromise. I've seen peopl who spent 8 years saying "obama wasn't their president" absolutely lay into people for saying Trump wasn't theirs. In the last 12 years I've never changed a single heart or mind on the issue of politics. For this reason I've recently started trying to give up politics. I know where I stand, I know how I will vote, but I see no reason to waste the time or energy trying to show these people thr benefits of liberalism or the pitfalls of conservatism. It simply does no good....

6/23/2017 07:46:00 am

Amen to all of your sentiments. I still hope to get more involved and see change. I have five children, and I try to hold on to the fact that I must lead them to believe that they can find and use their own voices and make some small change in the world. As defeating as that goal can feel...I keep on truckin'. Onward.

Dave

6/23/2017 02:14:59 pm

This was just posted to al.com, and the link to your blog included. You may want to make this private before the lynch mobs show up.

Just giving you a heads up.

Drew

6/23/2017 04:24:35 pm

This article reeks of liberal pompousness and condescension. Please Elizabeth, I mean no harm in my comment, but you have to understand that "tolerance" also means tolerating people who are Christian, conservative, and white (the latter is not by choice, obviously). I actually attended SFHS where I was introduced to a variety of new ideas. In 11th grade, I was assigned to read several chapters from A People's History of the United States, a book by Howard Zinn, a self proclaimed socialist. Did I complain? Absolutely not. The worst thing you can do to your child is shield him from the opposing side's opinions. In fact, I read quite a bit of leftist rhetoric because it strengthens my counter arguments in debate. Ignorance of the opposition only closes your mind to the vastness of political discourse. Your son may not like the books on the list, but publicly humiliating a man and trying to ruin his livelihood is quite disdainful. I know Gene, and he is anything but a bigot. He often challenges my conservative values simply to make me examine whether my arguments are rational or not. Please, all I ask is that you conduct a little introspection to see if this campaign you are running against a good man is worth it. Is it worth destroying a man's livelihood just so your child does not have to read a book with which he disagrees?

Miriam

6/23/2017 05:10:46 pm

Bravo to you for speaking up and out on behalf of your son. To the haters here who say, 'Your son should stand up for himself, what a mama's boy, etc'? Naff off. Teachers have power: power to fail, to taunt, to make a student's life miserable. As adults and parents, it is our obligation to stand up for our kids while they're in school.
This teacher is pathetic: he's not teaching, he's using his position to indoctrinate, intimidate, and propagate. I'm happy you questioned this ludicrous list.

6/23/2017 05:34:48 pm

I wanted to take a minute to write you because I am a personal friend of 20 years and a former student of Coach Ponder. As a matter of fact I helped run his campaign for lieutenant governor back in 2010.

I wanted to correct some things for the record that are being misconstrued in the National media.

1. The summer reading list provided on social media and the internet was a voluntary reading list not a required one as being reported that was strictly for extra credit. If you chose not to do the work it would not negatively affect your grade in any way. On top of that any student that feels strongly all the books listed on the reading list can go to Coach Ponder themselves or have their parents go to Coach Ponder to discuss the matter and give him some suggestions about some alternative books that would be good for report.

2. The reason why that list is compiled the way it is is because all of those books on that list have been read personally by coach Ponder. The reason he puts books on his list that he is red and comprehends well is because he can then go and intellectually challenge his students assertions and claims made in their reports in an informed way. That is not a complete list of books that could Ponder has read but those books have been read by coach Ponder.

3. Coach Ponder is the type of teacher that always tries to challenge his students in an intellectual way not to change their opinion but to make them better well-rounded students and citizens that know what they're talking about when they're making an argument and know why they believe something when they actually do. If you talk to coach Ponder former students (many of whom I'm still friends with on Facebook we actually have a discussion going on about this reading list right now on my Facebook wall www.facebook.com/dpreston2020) a vast majority of them will tell you they loved him as a teacher and that as long as you were respectful in the discussion he would respectfully listen to what you had to say and if you could articulate your point very well there's been times he's actually said well I haven't thought of it that way I need to go back and do some more reading.

4. Because the reading list is going around on the internet has both coach Ponders work email address and his private cell phone number, his personal voicemail and his email address are being filled with vile vicious repulsive comments and threats towards him and his family. his wife called me today in tears over some of the comments and threats made to his family like one in particular that stood out someone said that his kids and grandkids should be sterilized) (editorial comment: how is that for tolerance from the safe space seeking snowflake tolerant liberals).

5. As for my personal opinion on the list it's not the list that I would have chosen to put out and certainly think there could be more balanced to the list than there was. And if it's true that he did not seek clearance from the principal or the board of education for the list he certainly should have done that.

6. As for the 2010 Lieutenant governor's race, coach Ponder had to say stuff that was very hyperbolic and provoking to get attention because he did not have the money nor The Establishment behind him that now Governor Kay Ivey had in that race. I can personally guarantee you that coach Ponder never said nor even intimated anything about the state of Alabama seceding from the union in 2010. That was just a comment by an opponent to scare people off from supporting coach Ponder (editorial comment: a comment from opponent that was not necessary because coach Ponder had no realistic shot of winning the primary)

I just thought it necessary to shed some light from the 'other point of view' on the story so that if any subsequent stories are written about this topic they can be incorporated into the reporting.

Jenni Harvey

6/23/2017 05:42:01 pm

Mr. Ponder is an outstanding teacher with scrupulous values, a love for teaching his students and an incredible concern for educating students. He will be successful whether you like him or not. He offers a class full of debate, and both sides of politics are addressed. I have personally received emailsas well as phone calls from this man concerned about my child's progress and love for government. He has done more for my student than anyone at that school. Clearly you have a misguided impression and unfortunately acted without just cause. #mrponderforpresident

6/24/2017 11:14:43 am

Mrs. Denham

On a personal note I would like to thank you for accomplishing a goal that I've been advocating for since I was in high school.

The only thing that you've accomplished with your blog post and the publication and publicity of the optional extra credit reading list for the summer is, you have encouraged this particular teacher and other teachers in general to do away with extra credit opportunities in school.

Of the seven valedictorians and the five salutatorians that I had in my graduating class in 1999 in Daphne high school I know a number of them should not have been selected for those because those grades were based mainly off of extra credit opportunities they received. And I believe that takes away from the value of the people that truly earned those honors.

I don't know for a fact but there will be no extra credit opportunities for your son in the upcoming AP government class. But if I was the teacher there would be no such opportunities and if you or any other parent came to me and asked for extra credit opportunities because your student was not living up to their potential with their grade then I would say I'm sorry but I'm not offering any extra credit opportunities for the semester, especially if that parent was you!

On another personal note, if you want your son to grow up to be a responsible man that finds a woman that he's attracted to that will push him to become an even better man and that is a woman worthy of being with him, you need to let your son learn to fight his own battles, and he needs to have the ability to stand up to you and as father but especially you when you don't like the woman that he brings home and he eventually ends up marrying. Because from based on personal experience if he cannot learn to stand up to you and ask you to let him live his own life and you actually be respectful of that wish it will cause friction and stress in his life that will permanently harm your relationship with him and do damage to the relationship he has with his significant other that he chooses to spend his life with.

Michael

6/24/2017 06:53:37 pm

"I posted this list in a closed progressive group in which I participate."

Translation: I posted this list in a closed minded liberal snowflake group in which I participate.

Brittany link

6/26/2017 05:45:59 pm

It is unfortunate that so many people are attacking you and/or your approach to parenting. It is even more unfortunate that they think that is an acceptable way to treat someone for disagreeing with their politics (if this were a liberal teacher and a conservative speaking out, I highly doubt there would be so much support for the teacher.)

I know how you feel. It is why I left Alabama.

Even if it were an extra credit summer reading list, why did the teacher make it strictly conservative? If the teacher is as many present him (has his students discover why they believe what they believe, rather than just what they have been told by their parents), then why wouldn't he want his left-leaning students to be just as strong in their beliefs? Why wouldn't he give the option of opposing viewpoints so that all of his students could learn and grow? If he is only listing books he has read himself (as previously noted by a commenter), why hasn't he read (and thereby suggested to his students) more of the opposing viewpoint, so that he could teach on those points just as strongly, even if he doesn't personally agree with the author.... just as many are suggesting your son do?
Thank you for showing me that there are still democrats in Alabama, even if the majority of them are silent. Take care.

6/26/2017 06:04:09 pm

Let me ask you something? Why is it important to you that there are other Democrats in Alabama? That is exactly the groupthink on both sides of the political spectrum that is ruining the political discourse in this country and ultimately ruining the country.

I am a conservative libertarian that for the first time in my adult life did not vote for the Republican nominee for president of the United States. Because I did not agree with the personal choices and business choices that Donald Trump made in his life and his business is. While I understand that not paying contractors and filing for bankruptcy are business tools available to corporations to conduct business, I disagree that that's a good way to conduct business!

Instead of having group think that turns the American people into blind sheep that follow one Shepherd or the other why can't we have American citizenry that understand why they believe what they believe and engaging individual discussions with other people. When you talk with people that have differing opinions then your own and you actually listen to them you can learn something you may actually be able to think about something from an angle that you necessarily haven't thought of yet mainly because you haven't had those life experiences that the other person is had.

And to answer your question why there were not any liberal books on the summer reading list the answer is simple the teacher is the teacher and he created the assignment and that's the choice that he made and that's all the reason that is needed.

Kristia link

6/27/2017 10:25:06 pm

Waving hello and giving you a nod of understanding. From another Silent Minority member in Alabama. There are more of us than you know!

6/27/2017 10:39:35 pm

I thought we got rid of all you Democrats in Alabama when we got rid of the klan???

Jeanie Priest

6/28/2017 10:28:02 am

I am so proud of you. You did the right thing.

Elaine sandes

6/28/2017 06:31:14 pm

Thank you. I think there are probably some parents who would have objected to this reading list over the years if they knew about it, and many more who would not have. I'm not familiar with many of the writers on the list but if Ann Coulter is representative of the rest of them, all GIGO. I am a proud liberal Democrat with some Libertarian leanings living in Alabama. I too feel it necessary to keep quiet at times but my family and friends who may disagree with me on many social issues know that I speak from my heart and are proud of me for standing up for what I believe. I read a lot, sometimes I have to have a glass of wine near by, but I read George Will's column regularly, Joe Scarborough when he has time to write one, and a few other "conservative" columnists. If the reading list had been balanced, the teacher might have a point. One of the commenters above made the point the teacher recommended the books he has read. I think the teacher needs to refresh his reading. I am so proud of you.

Freddie C Howard link

1/26/2018 09:51:57 am

Thank you for being focus on a balance in teach your child. Teach about what is right and just for all mankind. Train up a child the way he should go. Some of America America America is walking away from it first Love God our creator. some are taping into our human side of 'Hate" and not "Love" Again Thanks for being a watchman for your Child and all men who Love Christ.

Thanks Freddie C. Howard