Trump announced the 1776 Commission in 2020 to promote “patriotic education,” identifying critical race theory as “a Marxist doctrine holding that America is a wicked and racist nation, that even young children are complicit in oppression, and that our entire society must be radically transformed… a form of child abuse in the truest sense of those words.” He’d joined a generations-long war rejecting equity in schools, whether that’s meant subsidized meals, inclusive curricula, access and admission after de facto segregation, teachers’ pay, or the protection of children’s health, safety, and gender expression—not to mention the rejection of all but the weakest gun laws. It’s like kids weren’t already having a hard-enough time being rejected from kickball, cliques, sports teams, prom, and the school musical. Some rejections you can try to overcome with study and a resilient attitude. Some require lobbyists, lawyers, and politicians in your court.Article continues after advertisement
One skirmish occurred in May 2021, when members of Moms for Liberty (M4L) began to target school board meetings in Williamson County, Tennessee. M4L, which calls itself a “grassroots organization of Moms” and self-reports a nationwide membership of 130,000, has targeted more than a thousand school board elections and collaborated on “Don’t Say Gay” legislation in Florida and Alabama. The Southern Poverty Law Center has flagged M4L for its tweet calling gender dysphoria “a mental health disorder that is being normalized by predators across the USA.” M4L also has ties with the Proud Boys and once published a newsletter quoting Hitler: “He alone, who OWNS the youth, GAINS the future.”
