A new message from your friends at People For the American Way.
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Dear People For Supporter,

It’s become clear that the far-right extremists aiming to seize control of
Congress this fall don’t plan to run on the real issues affecting
Americans’ daily lives.

Instead, they’re fanning the flames of racism and hatred – and mounting a
concerted attack on the freedom to learn in our public schools, including
book bans, gag orders on what can be discussed in classrooms, and outright
censorship of what kids are taught about American history.

For example, a recent report from PEN America found an unprecedented and
alarming increase in book bannings in schools across the country over the
past year, with 1,586 book bans enacted across 86 school districts in 26
separate states – with books about race, gender, LGBTQ+ identities and sex
most frequently targeted.^[ [link removed] ]

Since January 2021, 42 states have introduced bills or taken other steps
that would restrict or limit how teachers can discuss racism and
sexism.^[ [link removed] ]

Even more disturbingly, after Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia issued
an executive order forbidding the teaching of “divisive concepts” about
race, he also set up a “tip line” for citizens to report teachers who
mention these topics.^[ [link removed] ]

Asking people to inform on their neighbors is, of course, a hallmark of
authoritarian regimes everywhere.



[2]So we ask that you take two minutes of your time today, and renew your
People For membership with a donation to stop this dangerous censorship
and the whitewashing of American history. >>



People
For has been an advocate for the freedom to learn for decades. We have
always believed that students can only flourish and be prepared for
citizenship if they receive full and accurate instruction in school. And
we have a decades-long track record of beating back the Far Right’s
culture war attacks in education – including their attempts to ban books,
undermine science education, discriminate against LGBTQ youth, and use
schools to proselytize and impose their religious views on students.

We recently joined with the NAACP and the Leadership Conference on Civil
and Human Rights to launch a campaign called “Black History is American
History” in Virginia ... but we have a lot more work ahead of us to fight
this growing nationwide trend.

What’s especially disturbing about the Far Right’s new wave of attacks on
the freedom to learn is that they are largely based on, and fueled by, a
misinformation campaign being spread through far-right media channels. For
example, Critical Race Theory is not currently present in elementary or
secondary school curricula; it’s a graduate-level academic theory that’s
simply not used at the K-12 level. But sadly, to politicians eager to
weaponize these attacks on a comprehensive – and accurate – public
education, the truth doesn’t seem to matter.

When far-right politicians try to censor history, and fear is used to
whitewash lesson plans and deprive kids of comprehensive and accurate
information, we ALL lose.



[ [link removed] ]Please chip in a generous renewal donation right now to expose the lies
behind these attacks and expand People For’s campaign to defend the
freedom to learn nationwide.  >>



We thank you in advance for any contribution you can make today towards
our work, and we’ll keep you posted with activism opportunities and other
news as this campaign progresses.

All the best,

Ben Jealous, President

 



[ [link removed] ]RENEW TODAY →



 

 

Sources:

1. "[ [link removed] ]Report: 1,586 School Book Bans and Restrictions In 86 School
Districts Across 26 States," PEN America, 04/07/22

2. "[ [link removed] ]Map: Where Critical Race Theory Is Under Attack," Education Week,
updated 04/12/22

3. "[ [link removed] ]Youngkin’s ‘tip line’ to snitch on teachers suffers from this,
too," Washington Post, 01/28/22

 

 


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Thanks for your support.

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