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Friend, In recent years, the hard right has demonized public education, claiming it's a source of “radicalization” and “indoctrination.” This hateful rhetoric has lasting consequences, and we’re witnessing it in real time. Both students and faculty have been silenced with censorship policies that strip them of their individuality and at times, even lead to their expulsion. Book bans disproportionately censor LGBTQ+ topics, and themes of race and racism — a tactic from the far right to cripple some of our most entrenched values. The 2023-2024 school year had a record number of book bans yet, most of them coming from Florida — the censorship hub — and will continue if extremists go unchecked. Friend, we’ll be candid – every child deserves access to a quality public education where they feel safe enough to show up as their authentic selves and learn about real, accurate history, no matter how uncomfortable our past has been. We will not stop working until this becomes a reality in the Deep South and beyond. Right now, the SPLC’s legal team is seeking to reverse the censorship laws far-right extremists worked so hard to enact. In Rinderle, et al., v. Cobb County School District, et al., Katie Rinderle, a fifth-grade gifted specialist in Cobb County, Georgia, was fired for reading My Shadow is Purple to her students in 2023. The book’s themes are about self-acceptance and navigating gender stereotypes, and the book has been deemed a “controversial issue” in the school district, making it clear that LGBTQ+ subject matters should not be discussed in the classroom. In response, Rinderle — the first educator to be fired under a 2022 Georgia law — and other educators sued the Cobb County School District for discrimination, in the first federal lawsuit challenging classroom censorship policies in Georgia. This is the reality for thousands in the public school system nationwide, particularly in the South, because of oppressive laws that keep educators and students censored and unsafe. During the 2023 state legislative sessions, at least 110 censorship bills were introduced, and 10 were enacted. Your support powers our ability to take on these essential cases. But we need your help to get us to the finish line. We cannot afford to lose to the far-right's bid to shut out LGBTQ+ folks and people of color from the public school system. We value our diversity, and we must protect it for the sake of our communities. Chip in to the SPLC today, so we can build a more inclusive future for our educators and students.
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