Banning of book "Nickel and Dimed" - Tea Partiers to Storm School Board Meeting

[JPZenger]

I previously posted a DU thread about the attempt to ban the book "Nickel and Dimed" in the Easton Area School District in PA. A teabagger (who has no kids in the school) claimed the book promotes socialism and is anti-Christian. It actually promotes empathy. It is a an excellent book about an educated woman who goes undercover to experience what it is like to live on a waitresses' wages in various parts of the country.

The School Board decided to continue to use the book in the class (an Advanced Placement English class). Now, hundreds of teabaggers are planning to converge on the next school board meeting to try to ban this book.

http://lehighvalleyramblings.blogspot.com/2010/03/lv-tea-party-advocates-return-to-old.html

The above post is by a long-time prominent blogger in the Lehigh Valley of eastern PA. Here's an excerpt of that post:

"Well, after spending an hour listening to a lecture about the importance of our individual liberties, the local tea party decided to get into the book bannin' biz. They're taking aim at a book being used at Easton High School, Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickled and Dimed." That's a story about a year the author spent as a waitress and doing other low-skilled jobs. She's an advocate of a "living wage," and that scares the hell out of Lower Saucon Township resident Eric Adams. He complains that Ehrenreich's tome, like the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, is yet another step along the slippery slope of socialism. He wants the book banned, but the high school has already told him to pound sand.

On March 18, LV Tea Party shock troops will rally at the Easton School Board with their pitchforks and torches. "Let's have a big showing at the meeting to let these people know we mean business!" Here's what one member says. "I know how hard it is to crack the curriculum that is advanced by the libs."

Here's the previous DU thread, with much discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7767736

Here is the original news article:

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/index.ssf?/base/news-1/126672873013570.xml&coll=3

For anyone who hasn't read the book, here is a summary:

http://www.enotes.com/nickel-dimed-not-getting-by-america

[Common Sense Party]

1. I have a problem with it being used in an AP English class.

It's not literature. It should be used in a social studies class.

[supernova]

3. That I agree with

But if you wanted to use it as a great example of first-person investigative journalism, N&D'd is a terrific book.

[msanthrope]

38. That's what the book is being used for. As an example of a type of writing.

I'm betting you never took one, eh?

[supernova]

39. LOL! You sure pegged me

I never took a writing class in my life.

:P

[msanthrope]

42. It's difficult to tell from your one-post blog. n/t

[QC]

4. Not all English classes are lit classes.

Some are composition classes, and some classes focus on both areas at different times.

I have used excerpts from this same book in composition classes.

[fishwax]

32. .

:thumbsup:

[truedelphi]

48. Definitely a good way to use this book.

If we had more authors/journalists like B.E., and if they were more widely read, the nation would be in much better shape.

[QC]

62. It's an especially good text to use here,

because this is a beach town, so the majority of my students have worked in the hospitality industry or have family who do. The Florida chapter in the book really speaks to their own experience.

[Supersedeas]

80. +1

[nxylas]

5. Somehow, I doubt that's what they object to

I thought teabaggers all homeschooled their kids anyway. But I suppose if the great unwashed *have* to read books, let it be teabagger-approved ones like The Patriot's Bible and...uh, well, that's it really.

[n2doc]

21. Don't forget Ayn Rand! n/t

[nxylas]

25. Oh yes, of course

She may be an amphetamine-addicted atheist, but she hated communism, so that's OK.

[Javaman]

43. You forgot that she was also a serial killer lover.

and no, I'm not being sarcastic or snarky.

She was a complete nut job.

[kestrel91316]

33. What they really want is to ban ALL books from public schools. And

then ban the public schools.

[msanthrope]

37. "It's not literature."? Neither are "Elements of Style" or "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves."

but if you want to learn how to write, you read examples of all kinds of writing, plus books on how to write.

Newspapers aren't literature, and yet I read all of Woodward and Bernstein's columns about Watergate in my AP class. Gave me an appreciation of how to write meaningful things with brevity.

AP English is about more than reading literature.

[immoderate]

47. Non-fiction is not English?

College students only read novels? Consider revising your remarks. :)

--imm

[Common Sense Party]

51. Nah. I'm old school.

I still think English class should be primarily about English literature--fiction, drama, and poetry.

I believe Social Studies is a more appropriate place to read something like Nickle and Dimed.

[immoderate]

63. Old school is hard to argue with. Depends on which old school.

But you do qualify with "primarily." Fiction, drama and poetry are all good. But English also includes writing. I think students would relate well to Ehrenreich's book as a writing project.

Where would you teach 1984?

Oh, yeah, I'd throw in some grammar too. But that's me. How old school do you want? I'd think any honors English major should be able to diagram a complex sentence.

--imm

[Common Sense Party]

65. I'm all for diagramming sentences.

Last time I checked, wasn't 1984 a work of fiction?

[immoderate]

70. I picked a bad example.

I was thinking of 1984 because I think of Orwell fist as a wordsmith, then as a political philosopher, and then as a journalist and then as a novelist. 1984 could be part of a Social Studies class as well as English. And it can be read on many levels.

I'm not rejecting using the classics, but to me, it's the level of insight that is the objective. If the teacher uses Ehrenreich as a vehicle for opening up a new level of understanding of language, it is appropriate. I haven't read that book, but Ehrenreich is an excellent writer. Maybe the teacher had a passion for that book.

--imm

[DeltaLitProf]

67. I would argue that American Lit is good too . . .

. . . and literature that originally appeared in other languages than English is also worth reading in these classes.

[Puregonzo1188]

50. There are two AP English course, AP Literature and AP Language and Composition.

Literature, as you can imagine, focuses on fiction--novels and short stories. Language and Composition is focuses on analyzing prose and rhetoric, and writing. When I took it (which wasn't that long ago, I'm still an undergrad) we did read two novels--1984 and the Hand Maiden's Tale, but the bulk of our reading was non-fiction. If I recall correctly an excerpt from Nickeled and Dimed was in our anthology (which was supposedly pretty standard for a college composition course) along with HL Mencken, Coretta Scott King, and even the very vile BIll Bennet. So I think it's a fairly standard text, even though if it's not literature.

[Common Sense Party]

52. The times they have changed, then.

There was only one A.P. English class back in my day, and we read Shakespeare and such.

[keroro gunsou]

61. in my day

we had a HUGE reading list for my AP class. my teacher was a firm believer in reading everything under the sun. i managed to get away with lord of the rings as an example of modern mythology and was able to bring concepts from MAUS by Art Spiegelman and God Loves, Man Kills by Chris Claremont. needless to say it was a VERY interesting class.

can't say it was all that much fun to my non-comic reading classmates.... :evilgrin:

[LanternWaste]

54. How do you define literature precisely?

How do you yourself define literature precisely, and n what is that definition based on? As far as I can tell, the book fits both the academic and the conventional definition of the word.

Seems to me that one of the great things about this particular book (along with works such as Black Like Me) are the very definition of literature which may validly cross over from one academic discipline to another.

[MadHound]

58. Sure it is, literature doesn't have to be fiction, nor does it have to be one hundred years old.

It has a place in an AP English class.

[druidity33]

74. I don't.

If it was in High School, any book that will open up minds and inspire reading has potential in English Class. We were still exploring the horizons then. I remember reading sections of Devastation of the Indies and Walden Two in 12th grade AP English... decidedly not Literature.

I appreciated the diversity of material then. And Devastation led me to read A People's History of the US at 18 years old, so I am eminently thankful for that.

Really, anything that helps one to fall in love with reading deserves to be taught in an English class. Lit class is wholly different. Just my take...

:shrug:

[mediaman007]

2. We will destroy this country from within.

[AllentownJake]

6. You brought Bernie onto DU?

Don't mix that crazy.

[JPZenger]

22. He's a Democrat most of the time

Bernie is a Dem most of the time, except that he loves Charlie Dent and Ron Angle. In any case, he was the only one brave enough to go to to the Tea Party meeting and report on it.

[AllentownJake]

40. The hell he is

The only democrats he likes are Stoffa and Cunningham.

I think the local party people are miserable bastards but Ron Angle?

I'm not even going to go into what he did to me and a friend on that blog and a Facebook post.

If he stuck to shit like this, I wouldn't have a problem.

[Javaman]

45. those ball licking tea baggers love to use the scatter gun of stupidity approach of intimidation.

overwhelm and confuse with ridiculous arguments.

[XemaSab]

44. I went to a Tea Party meeting and reported on it

:P

[AllentownJake]

7. Easton is the most reliable democratic stronghold in the Lehigh Valley

Strategist these fuckers aren't.

[apnu]

41. Teabaggers don't give a shit about strategy. They just want headlines. Any headlines.

And if they have to look like book burning Nazi's to do it, they will.

[Ozymanithrax]

8. Wonder what they would think of "Black Like Me"

[av8rdave]

13. I finally just read that book....

Should be required reading in any social studies class.

[Jokinomx]

26. My thoughts exactly...:-)

A powerful book that I had to read in my 10th grade english class. It really had an impact on my view of the this country as I was born and raised in a remote part of Michigan.

[agentS]

9. Exhibit B as to why US education is in the gutter

Dumb parents/activists who think they know more about education than someone who's studied education.

The book is not being used to teach specific opinions or political beliefs, but rather to study the author's tone, and encourage critical and independent thinking among students, school officials said.

Imagine that...

But I guess people being paid enough to live on in modern times is a scary thing to ultra-conservative fuckwits.

[AllentownJake]

12. Based on what I know about Easton

I highly doubt many of the idiots at that meeting have school children in Easton.

I know the leader doesn't, I debated his punk ass on TV a year ago.

[Patiod]

77. I'm guessing he wasn't exactly William F Buckley

Good on you. We can't ignore these idiots - we need to challenge them with actual Facts. Facts for them are like water for the Wicked Witch of the West.

[gratuitous]

10. So, is Fox going to be there?

Are they still proud of their creation? Maybe the Teabaggers will burn a few books. That's always a good visual.

[AlecBGreen]

11. this is nuts

a man, terrified that his government is going to go all "communist" on his ass and deny him liberty, is asking his government to ban books. :crazy:

[AllentownJake]

14. Joe Hilliard's dad, the leader of the nuts

Was the CFO of Air Products. The man was handed everything he ever had in life. His dad and him stopped talking, because his dad had the audacity to take a pay cut, retire, and join the democratic Mayor of Allentown in actually trying to fix the cities budget problems.

I hate it when my local idiots I have to contend with make it onto DU.

[TalkingDog]

18. I'm with you there. One name: Virginia Foxx.

I've seen her carpetbagging ass poking around the local tractor supply and it's everything I can do not to deck her.

Like she even knows what a fucking tractor is for.

She gets so much funding from out of state, just to keep her sorry ass in office, it makes one despair for democracy.

[AlecBGreen]

28. oh God is she your rep?

Im so sorry

[nykym]

15. So rally the masses of

liberalism to the tune of say 1,000 strong to be at the meeting in support. If you get 1,000 people to show there won't be any room for the tea bagging slime to try to influence.

[AllentownJake]

16. Actually show of hands of who is an actual tax payer in Easton

Should clear that room pretty quickly.

I have no clue why the Tea Baggers, got it into their mind to storm the biggest democratic stronghold in the Lehigh Valley.

Seriously, a republican hasn't gotten elected there since the 1960s.

[Lifelong Protester]

56. always a good point of order at a school board meeting

and if it's an official meeting, here in WI, the electors can vote to let or deny the non-electors talking time

[Lifelong Protester]

57. In our school, Nickel and Dimed is used in Junior Careers class

it's a real eye-opener for kids.

[Patiod]

79. I can't imagine a better argument for staying in school

Republican or Democrat, I would think everyone would want their kid exposed to what life is like if you're only qualified for minimum-wage jobs, or if you're a single mom.

[nxylas]

I wish

Just because the teabaggers are wrong about every issue, it doesn't mean progressives have nothing to learn from them.

[Jim__]

17. Stand up for liberty. Ban unpopular thoughts!

These people are complete clowns.

[AlecBGreen]

29. in the immortal words of Mr Jimmy Buffett

if we couldnt laugh we would all go insane

[Burma Jones]

19. Well, OK, the Tea Baggers are diversifying.......

Good, the more they dilute their focused opposition to Health Care and take on Cultural issues, the more they can be painted as the half-assed Cranks they are.


Also, are these whack-jobs going to protest against the show "Undercover Boss"

[Bluenorthwest]

20. There is a great stage version of Nickel and Dimed

That clearly needs to be mounted all over that region...

[and-justice-for-all]

23. "the book promotes socialism and is anti-Christian."

there is no such thing as bad publicity tea-morons, looks like I will have to go buy a book today.

[AlecBGreen]

30. it IS a good book

and how is bringing attention to the plight of the working poor "anti-christian?" Oh, i know... cause this book promotes socialism and socialsts are all atheists and god-haters so if we read this book we are promoting socialism so we must hate christians cause everybody knows capitalism is perfect and socialism is eeeeeEEEEEvil ... :crazy:

[PVnRT]

24. We support freedom by banning books!

America! Fuck yeah!

[HughBeaumont]

27. God Damn it. Nickled And Dimed is about issues that affect ALL OF US.

What is the Tea Klux Klan missing besides THE BIG PICTURE? This has nothing to do with fucking Democrat or Republican, this is a LIFE ISSUE. Economic hardship can and has hit all of us at one point in time. Is it so incredibly difficult for a TKK'er to believe that not everyone is exactly like THEM? Is it so incredibly difficult for a TKKer to believe there are actually circumstances beyond one's control?

"I want this book banned because it has facts that I JUST DON'T LIKE" You stupid bastard. Yeah, how're those Bewsh 2000/2004 votes working out for us? Oh wait, the Tea Klux Klan doesn't care about "WE". They only care about "ME"!

[JPZenger]

34. Students should read it so they want to broaden their job choices

I think every student should read Nickel and Dimed so they realize they need to work hard to broaden their job opportunities.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

69. And after they get that expensive education,

they may realize that in most cases, it won't be worth a plugged nickel in career advancement.

(Speaking from long, sad real world experience here, and you may call me Doctor.)

:banghead:

[KansDem]

31. "Tea Partiers to Storm School Board Meeting"

Can't we drop these "patriots" down in the middle of Baghdad? With all their piss and vinegar, they should be able to "kick Iraq butt" in no time, and then our troops can come home!

[Dappleganger]

35. Thanks for the great book recommendation...

ordering it for my teens TODAY.

[ensho]

36. it is total stupidity to ban this book

they want to ban it because its TRUE. hope more people will buy the book.

and it is a good book for students to study.

[catrose]

46. In my English AP class at a Catholic girls' school

We read Deliverance and Walker Percy's The Movie Goer, with a photo of a girl in translucent lingerie. And some Shakespeare and shit. Where were the wingnuts to protect us from that? Our social studies teacher was prez of the local ACLU. Ah, sweet days.

Seriously, there's rude stuff in Shakespeare.

Recently a teacher friend said she ran afoul of the wingnuts when she gave an assignment to write a scene from one character's point of view and then rewrite it from another character's point of view. That's WITCHCRAFT. Her principle supported her, and she endured the rest of the semester with the little darlings turning on their recorders every time she opened her mouth. Then she found a better job elsewhere.

[truedelphi]

49. What a scary tale about your teacher and friend. n/t

[mainer]

76. egad, witchcraft?!!

Then every novelist should be burned at the stake!

[Joe the Liberal]

53. Banning books is done only by authoritarian, fascist, totalitarian scum-fucks who.....

are threatened far too easily by different, opinions, ideas, and just plain facts that threaten their small narrow minded world views. I'm sure if mien kampf was being used instead of Nickle and Dimed these same pieces of filth would all of a sudden be saying "we cant be banning books, even if it's books like Mien Kampf, banning books is what socialists/commies do!, we're all about liberty and freedom!" or something along those lines.

[krabigirl]

55. Well, that will lower the credibility of the Tea Partiers even more..since they are about "liberty".

If you don't want your kids reading the book in class, pull your kid out of public school and pay for it yourself. What about the school's right to have kids read differing points of view? And how exactly is a book that looks at the plight of the poor "anti-Christian"? What a bunch of idiots.

[Sabriel]

59. They're free to ban the book for their own children

But not for the children of other parents.

And if they want to ban something, how about Romeo and Juliet? Two middle-schoolers making the beast with two backs! Tsk, tsk.

[Mr. Sparkle]

60. I thought they were supposed to be libertarians !!!

Hopefully their mask will begin to fall and the media will realize that they are just a bunch of republican rejects.

[booley]

64. Ok it's official. Teabaggers are useful Idiots

They are literally in the trenches helping defend the very people who are screwing them over and making them so upset to begin with.

[TomCADem]

66. Faranheit 451 Comes To America

[NNN0LHI]

68. I still see guys who I know for sure are millionaires leaving a dime for a tip

Thats after eating a complete breakfast and having the waitress fill their coffee cup for over an hour. And if that cup isn't filled the instant they take the last sip they go completely nuts about their cup being empty.

If it was my restaurant I would have them thrown them out western style.

Don

[DCBob]

71. "Nickel and Dimed" is a fabulous book...

It is a must read for all Americans.

[upi402]

72. Conservatives have no shame and self-awareness is non existant

They either don't know, or don't care, that they are hypocrites and have double standards.

"Can't have no dang devil-book against wage-slavery by commies who are mommies round these here parts"

[6000eliot]

73. I live in this area. It's crawling with right-wing whack-jobs.

[mainer]

75. Banning is a book's best advertisement

Perhaps the city of Lehigh Valley should adopt N & D'd as the community read for the year. And every bookstore should feature it prominently in their display window. I guarantee, sales of it will shoot up in that town.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

78. Proof: KKKristians don't recognize compassion when it's right in front of them.

may outdated troglodyte myth systems die quickly.