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