Dec 19 2007
Another Homeschooler Against Huckabee
I do not support Mike Huckabee or any other conservative or Republican for president. There is a belief by the general public that all homeschoolers are conservative Christians. Nothing could be further from the truth. Homeschoolers, like any other group, are all individuals. We are not of one mind. We are not sheeple. We are Protestant, Catholic, Pagan, Jewish, Muslim, Agnostic, Atheist, and New Agers. We are Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Green, Libertarian, and more. What we have in common is our belief that homeschooling is best for our children. We homeschool for different reasons, and for many of us it has nothing whatsoever to do with religion.
I also will go on record as stating that I have never, and will never, give money to Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). They do not speak for me in any way, they are involved in political actions that have nothing to do with homeschooling, and in some cases they’ve made things worse by getting involved in a state’s homeschool laws.
The next time you see “Homeschoolers for Huckabee” or for any other conservative candidate, please remember not to take it seriously. The progressive, liberal homeschoolers have been silent too long. No more. We are speaking out in ever greater numbers now. Thanks to Meg for the above button. And thanks to her for this link too, which will give you a small taste of the diversity of the homeschool community.
Oh my gosh! I really, really, needed to read your post right now. A wise and dear friend sent me your link. I have been steaming for weeks about Huckabee and the local NPR station that had the audacity to do a news report labeling him as the homeschool candidate. ARGH! Sometimes I feel like all the homeschoolers where I live also believe that all homeschoolers are part of the Fundamental and Conservative Christian Right. I find the words published by HSLDA equally maddening and feel there is great harm being done by then to myself, my children, and other like minded homeschoolers who get painted with the same brush as these, these, — well, I cannot think of an unoffensive word for them at the moment so better leave it unsaid… Thank you for being out there and putting a smile on a fellow homeschooler’s face after a long a difficult day.
Thank you for your comment on my blog… thank you also for this wonderful post. I sometimes feel like an “invisible” homeschooler, because we aren’t right wing conservative, fundamentalist homeschoolers. Thank you thank you for so speaking so eloquently for us non-HSLDAers.
[…] Kathy (aka floridamom) at Learning in the Sunshine State: Another Homeschooler Against Huckabee […]
Thank You for this post. I also feel like the third wheel of home school. I often get tired of explaining that we do not home school for religious reasons. GREAT POST!! can I link it to my blog?
Yes, by all means, link.
Hurray for this post! I received a link to it last week, but just had time to stop in today.
You are so right. I wish people wouldn’t paint every single home schooling family with the same right-wing conservative brush. There are so many more faucets to all of us.
Each individual person deserves their own individual evaluation without being stereotyped first.
Thanks for giving us a voice!
Yup! Count me in!
A friend of mine got a letter to the editor in the Washington Post about this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/23/AR2007122302234.html
All we can do is to keep being ourselves and letting folks know that we do exist!