In the past few years, we have seen the rise of something called the “parental rights” movement. This movement consists of angry white parents, mostly women, like “Moms for Liberty” and “Parents Defending Freedom,” who insist that they as parents have the “right” to decide what their children are taught in school and what books they read. They strenuously object to teaching about race and racism, which they say makes their children “uncomfortable.” They believe that teachers are “grooming” their children to be gay or transgender by teaching them about gender or sexuality. Of course, if the last were true, almost everyone would now be transgender, since most students have taken a sex-ed course at some point, focused mainly on health.
In response to the outcry from these groups, a number of states, led by Florida and Virginia, have passed laws they describe as “parental rights” laws, which ban the teaching of “divisive concepts” because they make students “uncomfortable.” The most “divisive” concept of all is “critical race theory,” which states ban. Since legislators don’t know what critical race theory is, their laws are meant to remove any teaching about race and racism from the curriculum.
Bottom line: only white parents have parental rights.
But what about Black parents? Do they have rights? Apparently not.
What about other parents who do not identify with angry white parents? Don’t their children have the right to learn an accurate history of the state, the U.S., and the world?
Why do Moms for Liberty get to define what all parents want?
Shouldn’t Black children learn about the history of race and racism?
Why shouldn’t all students learn accurate history, even if it makes them “uncomfortable”?
Why should a small subset of far-right fringe white parents get the power to censor what everyone else is taught and is allowed to read?
These “parental rights” laws are a paper-thin veneer for censorship, gag orders, lies and propaganda. They are the product of arrogant racists who can’t be bothered to hide their venomous racism.
They prefer ignorance to knowledge. They should not be allowed to impose their hateful ideology on others.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
That would be a good question. Everyone thinks they are the majority that is being ignored. In fact, we are each a minority of one, giving way to the collective wisdom of the society through the vote. Amplification of a voice does not make it right or wrong; it just makes it loud.
We are best when we all feel that we are being heard.
When the right wing takes over, there is generally little consideration of the rights of others. The situation is worse for Black and Brown parents that are poor. There have been numerous protests in minority majority schools where parents and students have been ignored including New Jersey and Illinois. Even in Democrat led states minority protests are often ignored.
States have been dumping Black and Brown students into privately operated charter schools without any consideration of rights. It seems like test scores are more important than students and their families. All students deserve the same treatment and consideration, and that should include accurate facts in history. Public schools are part of the social contract. They aspire to prepare students in history and civics in order to become informed voters. These schools should be available to all.
Now that states like Florida and Texas claim to acknowledge parent power, Black and Brown parents should assert that dumping my child in a separate and unequal school would make my child uncomfortable. My child belongs in a public school with his peers.
“It seems like test scores are more important than students and their families.”
No, not “seems like” but that for the vast majority of GAGA Good German educators and edudeformers “test scores are more important” than anything.
Dear “Moms for Liberty”: Ofc, black parents don’t have rights. But don’t get all excited. As the Dobbs decision makes clear, female parents are next.
Ofc, since schooling or anything having to do with kids is “woman’s work,” perhaps you will be allowed to continue having something to say about school. To get a clear picture about these parenting roles, we have but to look, for an example, to our Glorious Leader, The Don, Cheeto “Little Fingers” Trumbalone, who had nothing to do with his children until they were old enough to run parts of his criminal organization.
SECRETARY: Sir, your son Eric is here. Mrs. Trump sent him. It’s his birthday.
ERIC (peeks from behind SECRETARY)
TRUMP: Well, well. What do we have here? Happy birthday, Derek. A special day. Very special. This is the day we say our thanks to me for deciding to have you. Pretty special thing I did back then, huh? Very special. Have you brought me a present?
“Why should a small subset of far-right fringe white parents get the power to censor what everyone else is taught and is allowed to read?”
They shouldn’t!
Those “far-right fringe white parents” are regressive reactionary xtian fundie theocrats who seek to take America back to a time that never was. . . and never will be, no matter how much they lie to get their xtian caliphate instituted in America.
“to take America back to a time that never was”
Or to take America back to a time that was but that we don’t talk about. Case in point, after the Alito decision on abortion, an abortion lw written in 1931 took effect. Back to the future. Way, way back.
If 30’s abortion law comes, can lynchings be far behind?
Notre Dame University is rubbing Alito’s abortion ruling in our faces.
They recently had Alito as their keynote speaker at their Religious Liberty (sic and sick) summit in Rome, at which Alito mocked world leaders who had dared to oppose the Pope’s decrees against abortion.
Notre Dame is not satisfied to simply enjoy their victory quietly. They feel the need to rub it in everyone’s face and let everyone know they will now go after any leader who does not cowtow to the Pope.
With this Extreme Court, as with Trump, every time you think a low has been reached, they exceed it. Ginny Thomas, insurrectionist, and her husband who didn’t recuse himself from related cases, for example.
And this speech from Sméagol Alito was breathtaking. So smarmy and proud of himself for having put women in their place.
Alito obviously doesn’t get irony
Here’s what he said at the Liberty bibberty summit, just a few weeks after forcing his religious beliefs on millions of women.
“Religious liberty is under attack in many places because it is dangerous to those who want to hold complete power. It also probably grows out of something dark and deep in the human DNA — a tendency to distrust and dislike people who are not like ourselves”.
Very funny that he put it that way “a tendency to distrust and dislike people who are not like ourselves”.
He didn’t say “themselves”.
He said ourselves.
Haaaa!!!! Wonderful catch, SomeDAM!
Alito and his SCOTUS allies took away the religious Liberty of millions of American women who do not share his beliefs. As SDP said, he forced his religious beliefs on millions of women.” Why aren’t they free to practice their faith? Why must they be compelled to live by Alito’s beliefs? No, he doesn’t understand irony nor does he care about the religious faith of those different from his own.
It’s worth noting that the same Law Notre Dame Law school that invited Alito to speak at their Liberty Bibberty Summit had filed friend of the court briefs in support of the very cases that Alito ruled favorably on.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/07/alito-rome-religious-liberty-foreign-leaders-secularism.html
To the anti-CRT crowd, I shove it right back at them in my classroom with this acrostic: C – Courage and Compassion; R — Reason and Responsibility; T — Temperance and Tolerance; with an added little side poster that reads “We’re not here to create ‘uncomfortable’ snowflakes.” Then on the other side of my classroom I have a mini-poster that reads: “Politics is about POWER; CONTROL is the method; MONEY is the means; Any questions?” Then, under my To Kill A Mockingbird canvas poster, I have the famous Margaret Bourke-White photo “Louisville Flood” with the line of African-Americans under the big billboard of the happy white family in a car that reads “World’s Highest Standard of Living: There’s No Way Like The American Way.” I teach our students to accept our history for good or bad, for better or for worse, to assess it amongst themselves, to see the nuances, gradients and degrees within the contradictions, hypocrisies of EVERYONE involved. And then I refer to my Politics poster. So to the paranoid snowflakey champions of right-wing victimhood, I’d like to tell them to stick it where the sun will never ever shine for them.
O-o-o-o-o…LOVE it, Yossarian. (I didn’t pass my AP English end of year exam because, stupidly, I chose to write an essay about “Catch 22” –I know–this format doesn’t allow me to italicize. I was consistent, though: I consistently misspelled Yossarian’s name.)
Black Lives Matter
Black lives matter
Pay the rents
Black lives matter
Buck$ and cents
Black lives matter
Buy the junk
Serve the platter
Slam the dunk!
The more the right attempts to whitewash history, the more important it is for teachers to keep teaching ACTUAL history, the good, the bad, and the ugly. In this time and place, it’s an important duty.
See this pic:
https://extremehistoryproject.org/2012/09/05/speak-the-truth-even-if-your-voice-shakes/
I absolutely agree that the small subset of parents are dictating to the rest. When will the silent majority take them on? I think it is time to stand up for truth and transparency in our teaching!
This has been happening at school boards around the country–decent parents and kids showing up to shout down the backward, racist, book-burning, fundamentalist cretins.
No, it’s more like the majority of decent parents are being cowed by the loud mouthed, rude & rowdy minority racists, book burners & anti-maskers.
That’s why groups like Indivisible (yay!) are running Zooms on how to combat bullies & disinformation @ school board meetings Check out your local Indivisible..
Thanks, Retired.
It looks as though red, red Kansas is voting OVERWHELMINGLY, tonight, to protect abortion rights. Awesome.
Yeah, the Pugs might win in November and again in 2024, and the Extreme Court might try to turn back the calendar to the Middle Ages, but it will be impossible, even with state violence, for the Repugnican fascists to rule as they wish to.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were referenda on abortion in every red state?
Oh yes, yes, yes, Diane!!!
Use of the word “Liberty” or “Freedom” in a name for a group or conference is a sure sign that it has nothing to do with actual “liberty and justice for all” , but instead has everything to do with “power for a small minority over the vast majority”
Notre Dame University recently had Supreme Court Justass Alito as the keynote speaker at their “Religious Liberty” conference, which is basically about proclaiming the positions of the Catholic Church on abortion, contraception and other issues.
It’s not about the liberty of the Catholic church at all. No one is stopping Catholics from following the Pope’s ban on abortion, contraception or anything else. Catholics can do anything they damned well please.
But through Alito, Roberts, Cony Barret and the other acolytes of the Pope, the Catholic Church is squelching the liberties of women worldwide .
We have the liberty to tell you what you have to believe and do. This is how fascists work. Their liberty becomes the meaning of “liberty.”
You gotta just love it when a fake “religious” person like Alito lectures about liberty just a few short weeks after shoving his goddamned religion down everyone else’s throat.
A right-wing conservative talk-radio host in Chicago, Dan Proft, ran candidates for school board in the north suburban area under the name “Liberty Party.” Sadly for them, they were trounced.
Proft picked up his toys & moved, along w/his gazillionaire buddy, Ken Griffin, to the very tony Naples, FL. Good riddance:
DeINSANEtis can have ’em all!!
That’s good news. My hunch is that the fascists are loud and well funded but represent a tiny number of people.
“Justass Alito”- a better descriptor doesn’t exist.
I’ve served in some schools, alas, where this is not a rhetorical question.
Ah, you’ve taught in the United States, I see.
All parents are equal, but some parents (white, conservative) are more equal than others.
That seems to be the underlying philosophy of the right wing Republican “parents’ rights” movement.
It is the underlying philosophy of all the Republicans’ beliefs.
All voters are equal, but some voters (white, Republican) are more equal than others.
^^h/t to George Orwell, of course
Those who are not made uncomfortable by history
Are doomed to repeat it.
So beautifully said, Jon!!!
Magnificent.
This year, the Seminole County school board chair, thought to be cozy with M4L seemed to dismiss LGBTQ students calling them a “vocal minority” because they asked for a simple acknowledgment of Pride month. Moms for so-called “Liberty” are a vocal minority with the power to influence legislation that negatively affects all students. We dismiss them as a vocal minority at our peril. They are playing the long game now. Think Federalists and SCOTUS. They are working to place their ideologues at all levels of government. School boards are just the beginning.
https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/politics-issues/2022-07-18/moms-for-liberty-aims-to-expand-political-influence-bolstered-by-trainings-endorsements
Their drumbeat, “I don’t coparent with the government” smacks of irony, since everything they push for is to force everyone else to “coparent with them.” But Liberty!
Liberty and freedom are empty buzz words unless they apply to all.
Exactly, Ms. Stenoff!!! Well observed!
Moms for Liberty get air time and promotion on conservative religious broadcasts.
Parent choice is not a civil, human, or Constitutional right, but after decades of having the idea of free market “school choice” pounded into everyone’s heads, what do you expect? Once someone feels entitled to take public dollars away from public schools to do as they please, it’s only natural that they would also feel entitled to choose curricula, to choose teachers, to choose what books go in the library, to choose every way public dollars are spent. Charters and vouchers (soon to be ruled one and the same by the SCOTUS if they haven’t already [all part of the libertarian plan]) have created a dog eat dog free for all, and the fabric of cohesive society is torn. Oh, but some billionaires are happy, so all good.
I love this term “free market.” This is a particularly insidious piece of doubletalk because it’s so familiar that people don’t even question it. Yeah, there is a free market in Patek Philippe watches and Island Packet sailboats and Bentley cars and Sikorsky helicopters. Having been a schoolteacher, of course, I had a bunch of these.
The proper term would be the “the-free-for-the-few-to-participate-in market,” but though accurate, that’s a bit of a mouthful.
People who toss around that term are lying sacks of Trump.
Off topic, “Emerging technology makes school a harsher, less accessible environment” (Daily Beast opinion column, 8-3-2022, “How Tech Treats Students with Disabilities like Criminals”).
I’ve thought a bit about this very issue, and this is the first time I’ve read a thought leader take it on. Wonderfully expressed. This post and the ensuing discussion are immensely valuable.
Thanks, Bill. It outraged me that the “parental rights” laws assume that only white parents have rights.