A new message from your friends at People For the American Way.
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[ [link removed] ]Tell your state lawmakers to protect the freedom to learn! Send an email now
>>

Dear People For supporter,

Tennessee seems to be a hotbed of anti-learning fever, but it is not
alone. This month, extreme far-right pastor Greg Locke hosted a book
burning in the state. The month before, Tennessee’s school board banned
classics like Art Spiegelman’s Maus and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye.
And this pattern is being repeated across the country, with one county
school board in Texas reporting 75 book ban requests in 2021 compared to
the previous year’s single request.^[1]

We’ve seen this before: attempts to ban the teaching of history and
related literature often precede an authoritarian tide. And we must turn
back this tide right now, before it strengthens.

The freedom to learn is a fundamental right in our country, especially for
our children, and we’re urging you today to write to your state lawmakers
to ensure that they do everything in their power to stop this
anti-learning wave.

[ [link removed] ]Send an email to your state lawmakers urging them to protect the
freedom to learn in your state! >>

The Right’s renewed zeal for book-banning over the past year has focused
on works with racial, gender, or LGBTQ-related themes, many of them
revered classics and historical works. These are real efforts to block
teaching about the contributions of groups that have been historically
marginalized groups and about the legacy of racism and hatred that is
baked into many of our country’s institutions.

Although much of this book banning zeal is happening at the school board
level, your state lawmakers have the power to be the first line of defense
against this appalling behavior. We’ll give you a sample email as a
starting point, although you’re encouraged to personalize it if you can.
It should take you no more than 5 minutes to complete, and your input
could make a big difference as state lawmakers across the country take on
these critical conversations about our children’s education.

[ [link removed] ]Please help make sure your state is protecting the freedom to
learn by writing an email to your state lawmakers today! >>

Our work to eradicate systemic oppression and make this country a place
where all people have equal opportunity for justice and happiness cannot
succeed if the Far Right erases the truth of our past and our present.

Thank you for taking action today to help us stop the Far Right’s campaign
against the freedom to learn in your state,

– Ben Jealous, President

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Source:

[1] "[ [link removed] ]Book Banning Is Increasing Across the United States, a Book
Burning in Tennessee." (The Observer, 2/9/22.)

 

 

 


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Thanks for your support.

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