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Earlier this year, the Southern Poverty Law Center named Moms for Liberty an extremist hate group, however, this comes after the controversial faction already successfully endorsed 275 school board candidates nationwide in 2022.
They continue targeting thousands of school board seats and are calling for books bans and censorship of history lessons.
They have also weaponized their platforms to harass teachers and school administrators and advocate for the dismantlement of the Department of Education.
Much of Moms for Liberty condemnation is targeted towards the LGTBQ+ community.
Last month, Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters issued a statement where he “wholeheartedly condemns the Southern Poverty Law Center’s reckless and boneheaded comments toward mothers in Oklahoma.”
“This is yet another example of left-wing extremism and their insidious methods of labeling moms engaged in their kids’ education as public enemy number one,” Walters partly said in the statement. “I will never stop fighting for the good people of Oklahoma, especially a patriotic organization like Mom’s for Liberty. I will always defend Oklahoma from the radical left and their obsession with our children.”
Presidents stand up against book bans
Last week former President Barack Obama denounced the spread of book bans across the country as “profoundly misguided.”
In a letter to the nation’s librarians, Obama praised them for being “on the front lines” to ensure that the “widest possible range of viewpoints, opinions, and ideas available to everyone.”
On Tuesday, after President Biden announced a national monument dedicated to Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, he stated, “We can’t just choose to learn what we want to know; we have to learn what we should know. We should know everything: the good, the bad, the truth of who we are as a nation.”
Neera Tanden, Biden’s domestic policy adviser, said, “In too many parts of our country, LGBTQ Americans are being targeted for who they are, and that, simply put, is discrimination.”
According to NPR, Biden has assigned a book ban coordinator at the Education Department to ensure schools are aware that book bans can violate federal civil rights laws if they create a hostile environment for students, Tanden said. “Book banning erodes our democracy, removes vital resources for student learning, and can contribute to stigma and isolation,” she said.