A Virginia teacher assigned students Trevor Noah’s autobiography, “Born a Crime,” along with a subsequent question on racial “trauma” and “segregation” currently existing “in our communities.” Young America’s Foundation was alerted to this by student Dakota Haywood through the Campus Bias Tipline.
Trevor Noah, known for his tone-deaf comparisons and left-wing tirades, is the host of The Daily Show on comedy central, preceded by Jon Stewart.
Donna Pomponio, an english teacher at Potomac Falls High School, assigned students a book authored by Noah. In follow-up reading comprehension questions, she provided a quote from the book that discussed “the curse of being black and poor” and “the black tax” and asked students to “Discuss how this same idea of trauma, poverty, segregation, and lack of equity exists in the US, in our communities.”
Haywood told YAF, “Politics should be kept out of schools and students should be allowed to do research outside of school and come to their own conclusions.”
According to Loudoun County Public Schools’ Public Information Officer, Wayde Byard, Noah’s Book, “Born a Crime” is “approved 12th grade reading.”
“Nobody has been assigned this yet,” Byard told YAF. He confirmed that it was released by the teacher and was accessible to the students but reinforced that it was not yet “assigned.”
Pressed on what this means, he said he was currently reviewing the status of the assignment.
“They put out assignments that may be given in the future so students can be aware.”
In contrast to Byard’s statement, Haywood asserts that this question was assigned last week. It was due on September 24, according to a screenshot.
After being shown the screenshot that disputes the county school district’s claim, Byard said “That is not correct.”
Both the teacher, Donna Pomponio, and PFHS principal Brandon Wolfe declined to comment.
The reading, Trevor Noah’s “Born a Crime,” was revealed to be an approved 12th grade book in a conversation with Byard. Noah is an individual with a history of inflammatory claims. In 2017, he called the United States “the Third Reich,” after a vacation in South Africa to “escape the racial tension.” In 2020, he criticized gender reveal parties, saying “…given everything we’re learning about gender, gender reveal parties should only happen when the child is old enough to know their actual gender.” In 2021, He claimed that the American policing system was a “rotten tree.” “The system in policing is doing exactly what it’s meant to do in America, and that is to keep poor people in their place. Who happens to be the most poor in America? Black people,” he said.
Loudoun County has become a battleground between Critical Race Theory and gender ideology and fed up parents. This is just the most recent instance of radical left-wing ideology taking root in public schools. Tuesday, Matt Walsh will be hosting a protest outside the Loudoun County School Board meeting.
“The Loudoun County school board in VA has imposed a radical trans policy allowing males access to girl’s restrooms and teams. Teachers are required to use preferred pronouns. To protest this madness, I’ll be leading a rally outside the school board meeting on September 28.”
Students, Parents, and citizens alike are deeply concerned by the state of our public schools—and rightfully so. Students are being indoctrinated by their teachers and administrators. It is up to students like Dakota Haywood and his peers, along with their parents to stand up to this. If not, we can expect to see a lot more of these instances across the country.