Friend,
Mask and vaccine mandates, critical race theory, the LGBTQ+ community, the Muslim community – what do all these things have in common? They’re the latest far-right boogeymen being used to create fear and mistrust of our public schools – and they’re the favorite talking points of Alyssa Halstead, an extremist school board candidate in Virginia who is running against People For-endorsed candidate Marc Broklawski.[1]
This race offers a perfect glimpse into what's become a national campaign by the Far Right to not only harass and intimidate existing school boards, but to take them over by electing extremist school board members to advance an agenda based on bigotry and conspiracy theories.
Halstead recently came under fire for spreading bigoted memes on Facebook that earned a rare rebuke by the local NAACP, which felt compelled to put out a letter condemning Halstead’s hatemongering campaign tactics. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.[2]
Halstead also asserted that the former superintendent of the school system she's running to help lead got cancer from the COVID vaccine! (His cancer diagnosis pre-dates the coronavirus pandemic by several years.)
AND/OR...
Here are the Facebook posts that earned Halstead that rebuke by the local NAACP branch:
Alyssa Halstead also checks all the far-right boxes when it comes to her extreme opposition to science-based precautions to protect school children from COVID; she vehemently opposes mask mandates (so much so that she blames local public schools for her daughter’s private school’s mask requirement).
This is an important race in an important state – for many reasons.
For one, we need to take a stand against the Far Right's efforts to wage their culture war in our schools and promote extremist nonsense to America's youth.
But Stafford County is also among Virginia's largest, fastest growing, and most quickly diversifying counties... it’s very important to state politics in a major statewide election where the GOP gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin is himself spreading bigoted conspiracy theories about school board elections.[3]
AND this race offers the chance to flip this key school board from being controlled by a conservative majority, which means it could also mean winning basic workers’ rights, like collective bargaining, for school district employees.
But more than anything, the children of Stafford County schools deserve better than the fear and hatred unabashedly promoted by Alyssa Halstead – they deserve a leader who will champion their needs, not kowtow to the Far Right.
Over the last several months we’ve witnessed far-right extremists overrunning school board meetings with wild and unfounded conspiracy theories about mask mandates and critical race theory among other topics.
We must continue pushing back on egregious and false narratives that portray the Far Right as somehow representative of what is best for our schools, and we certainly can’t sit back and let those very same people become elected to positions where they will be making decisions impacting the lives of countless children and community members.
Thanks for all that you do,
Zach, People For the American Way
[1] "Stafford County School Board Candidate Marc Broklawski Rips Right-Wing Opponent’s “hate-filled Facebook posts”" Blue Virginia, 10/15/21
[2] "Statement Regarding Stafford County School Board Candidate, Alyssa Halstead" Stafford NAACP, 10/26/21
[3] "Youngkin accused of antisemitism after claiming allies of Jewish donor George Soros ‘inserted’ operatives into Virginia school boards" The Washington Post, 10/22/21
|
Do not reply directly to this e-mail. Please use [email protected]. Trouble viewing the email? THANK YOU for your support of People For the American Way! This email was sent to [email protected]. Reaching you over email is the best way we have to let you know about the ways you can take action to fight the Right Wing and defend our constitutional rights and values. If you have any thoughts, comments, or criticisms, or if there's a better email address at which to reach you, please let us know>> If you'd like to unsubscribe from our list, you can do that here>> Radical Right extremists are trying to turn back the clock on a century of advances in civil rights, women’s rights, workers’ rights, the social safety net and more… they’re waging an all-out assault on the fundamental pillars of our country – democracy, checks and balances, a fair and independent judicial branch, and core values like fairness, equality, and justice for all. People For is fighting back every day with: ✔ Grassroots organizing But we can’t do this vital work without the robust grassroots financial support of our members and activists.
|
|||
|
