Censorship & the Cult of Muscle Shoals

A guest editorial:

Before settling in North Alabama, my husband and I lived in Kentucky and Tennessee. While he worked in engineering, I taught high school English. I'm now retired to write full time, but I do sub in Limestone County and have a good understanding of both school spirit and censorship.

I faced some censorship, especially in Kentucky, in what I could assign my students. It's frustrating in literature, but what about school life in general? Who benefits? Not the students or their parents.

Blog on Colbert Heights or Deshler? I haven't seen one single person take umbrage. Blog on problems at Muscle Shoals? Then certain people organize a protest. They call on school spirit to lead others into doing their bidding.

Who benefits? Not the students who will soon find out in college that they aren't really all that special or the taxpayers who are giving a host of others a special ride at their expense.

I would never have written this if I hadn't seen one particular "bigwig” invoking the name of a dead student to censor any criticism of Muscle Shoals schools. He and the school administrators bear watching. What is it that they don't want you to know? Why would anyone at all ever want to “shut down” a political blog? The only answer is the blog is bringing truth to light, and these people don't have enough Kool-Aid to cover all their machinations.

I'll admit to finding my adopted hometown of Athens a little provincial at times.  I just have to look at Muscle Shoals to be glad of where I live.

CeCe
cassandra.clairage@gmail.com

*****

The author of a recent blog on problems accessing the Muscle Shoals football field/track will continue to write for us from time to time under the name "Leslie M. Shoals." We have published many of LMS's guest blogs over the years, and always appreciate the input whether we personally agree or not.

The definition of "recant" is: say that one no longer holds an opinion or belief, especially one considered heretical.

We sincerely doubt that LMS has written anything that he/she would wish to recant.


Shoalanda