Randi Weingarten On “”The War on Woke”

A site to discuss better education for all
 

The New Republic convened a meeting to discuss Trump, book banning and the culture wars. Randi Weingarten described the attack on schools as a coordinated strategy to destroy public schools and promote vouchers. Edith Olmsted of The New Republic interviewed her. None of this is new to readers of this blog, but the American public needs to hear this message. Again and again.

Book Bans Are a Conservative Plot to Destroy Public Schools, Says Randi Weingarten, The teachers union head denounced the “extremist strategy,” which also includes voucher campaigns and manufactured outrage over critical race theory.

DANIEL BOCZARSKI/GETTY IMAGES FOR MOVEON

Teachers union head Randi Weingarten says that the campaign by conservatives to ban books isn’t about the books at all, but part of a broader strategy to destroy public schools—one that was supercharged by the pandemic.

“You take the agita and the anxiety that people had at Covid, that fear, and you combine it with a right wing who has wanted to kill public schools for years and take that money for vouchers, and you have the scenario we have,” Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, said Wednesday at The New Republic’s Stop Trump Summit.

Vouchers, which use public education dollars to fund private and religious school attendance, are just one pillar of the conservative campaign to “undermine, destroy, and defund” public schools, she said. The other two are book banning and manufactured outrage over critical race theory.

Weingarten pointed to conservative activist Chris Rufo and a comment he made at Hillsdale College, a Christian nationalist school, in which he admitted that focusing on these issues was all part of a master plan to promote universal vouchers: “To get to universal school choice, you really need to operate from a premise of universal public school distrust.”

In an interview with TNR after the event, Weingarten explained the “extremist strategy” Rufo and other conservatives have used to defund public schools. “The hook was trust. If you really create as much distrust as possible in public schooling, then parents will look at privatization as an option,” she said.

That’s where critical race theory comes in.

“[Rufo] tried to make a term that nobody knows so toxic, so that you can weaponize it and make fear,” she said. “Conversations about hard subjects became weaponized as indoctrination. Which is patently ridiculous, and dangerous.”

Race, as well as gender, is the subject conservatives have focused on in their campaigns to ban books in public schools and libraries.

“What [Republican Governor Ron] DeSantis is doing in the so-called ‘war on woke,’ is exactly part of their playbook—to make people afraid of books, and afraid of what we do in school,” Weingarten said. According to Pen America, Florida passed 15 “educational intimidation” bills in the last two and a half years.

The “parents’ rights” movement is made up of a loud minority, Weingarten said, and actively undermines what most parents want. “What we see in Florida is that 60 percent of the book banning has been done by 11 people,” she said.

The AFT has partnered with The New Republic in fighting back against such bans. TNR’s Banned Books Tour has been delivering thousands of banned books across the country this month, most recently in Florida.

 

Hundreds Reportedly Dead In Strike On Gaza Hospital

There are comments at the link above.  I am sorry but I am too heart sick over the cruelty and inhumanity of one group of people to another.  Jerry / Rawgod has been posting of the atrocities of the governments /  religious groups that stole kids from their parents and abused them horribly to civilize them, He reported on the beating death of a black man whose family still fights for justice, on The Majority Report they just played a clip of Matt Walsh saying the colonization and killing of native populations was a good thing that white people should celebrate because they made everything better … for the white people, I have memories in my head of people who took enjoyment in hearing me cry both in sadness and crying out in pain.   I can’t any more today.  I am sorry I can’t.   Religious people demanding the death and wiping from society of people like me, removing the protections for gay / lesbian / trans kids to return to a time when their lives in school were hell and fear.   WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH HUMANS!  Maybe it is time that humans move aside on the planet!  We don’t deserve to be here.   Hugs

Ohio Has a New Universal Voucher Program, and the Problems Are Already Starting

This is important to understand what the goal of the right is.  The goal is to destroy public education, and instead force public taxpayer funds, the public treasury, to be diverted to private businesses and religious institutions.  They want to give religious organizations, church affiliated schools that discriminate against LGBTQIA tax dollars of people they discriminate against, so they can indoctrinate public schools kids with their churches doctrines.  Here are some quotes.  There is more in the article at the link above.  Hugs.  Scottie

That means it will be difficult to discern whether the spike in EdChoice scholarships came from parents looking to leave public school or those whose children already attend (private schools).”  One serious problem here is that the voucher expansion is to be paid for out of the school foundation budget that also pays for the state’s public schools.

 

In Iowa, 40 percent of more than 17,000 applicants to the state’s new universal education savings account program have left public schools, while the remaining 60 percent were not enrolled in public schools before applying…. The gap is even wider in Florida, where 69 percent of roughly 122,000 new applicants… were already in private schools before applying…. Another 18 percent are children entering the K-12 system for the first time as kindergarteners….”

 

“Northeast Ohio Catholics have been thrust into the national debate about LGBTQ rights after the diocese released its policy…. for churches and 79 elementary schools and five high schools. It includes bans on students and staff from undergoing gender-affirming care; their use of new pronouns or first names; and the use of restrooms or other facilities different than their ‘God-given biological sex.’ Church and school staff must notify parents if their child may be transgender. Students and staff cannot display LGBTQ pride flags or other symbols. Students cannot attend dances or mixers with a date of the same sex.” Most of these Cleveland Catholic diocesan schools accept EdChoice Expansion vouchers from the state of Ohio.

 

But the larger injustice exposed here is even more distressing. More and more students under the state’s new universal school voucher expansion will be using public tax dollars to pay tuition at Catholic schools in greater Cleveland which are now—seemingly with impunity—explicitly discriminating against a specific class of students whose rights are protected under Title IX of the Constitution of the United States.

Florida Is Not A Red State – Rep. Maxwell Frost

Transphobic Heckler Ruins His Own Life – Steve Hofstetter

I wanted to post an update of something I got wrong. The tatted up guy at the end of the video had a VERY different story than the one that was told to me.

Turns out he was not only at the show, he was a fan AND the guy that first got the attention of the police. He was so heated because he is part of the LGBTQ community and had been assaulted previously – so when he saw it potentially happening to a few trans women, he grabbed a cop who was stopped at a light, ran back to the theatre, and got in between the transphobe and the women. He wasn’t trying to escalate as much as he was trying to be the one to take the seemingly inevitable punch. And he left when the cops got there because he was the one who called them over in the first place.

I was told he was a bystander who just hopped in the fray, and I understand why the folks who didn’t know him thought that. In their eyes, he showed up out of nowhere and ran in – but really he was running back to protect folks from sharing the same fate he’d already experienced.

Anyway, my apologies go out to him. And know that if I ever get something wrong in a video, I am happy to correct it.

Far-right Christian dominionists infiltrate schools, civic offices in Texas

Antonia Hylton, investigative reporter for NBC News and co-host of the new podcast Grapevine, reports on the infiltration of far-right Christian ideology into classrooms in Texas and across America. 

Book bans in Texas spread as new state law takes effect

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/11/texas-library-book-bans/

The hate and misinformation continues and spreads.  The over the top rush to return to a regressive past of strict gender roles, censorship, and an enforced social acceptance of only what is acceptable to the leading churches in the area.  Think of the time these people want desperately to return to, and ask why.  It did not fix anything, it did not solve any problems.  Gay kids were still born, they just had miserable lives.  Trans people were still born, they just had to suffer with no social acceptance or relief.  These people hate civil rights for anyone but themselves.  They are demanding a return to a time when it was not only legal but acceptable to discriminate against anyone who was not a straight cis white person.  That is what they want so badly, the right to insult, shame, targeting for bullying and harming people who are different.  I have to ask why, what makes that time so attractive for these people.   I think it is the right to abuse others, to feel superior to them!  Again I repeat that a lot of this hate and bigotry is driven by fundmentlist religious sects.   Below is are two quote.   Hugs

The ALA said book challenges nearly doubled nationally in 2022 and are “evidence of a growing, well-organized, conservative political movement, the goals of which include removing books about race, history, gender identity, sexuality, and reproductive health from America’s public and school libraries that do not meet their approval.”

“The book fair is one of our biggest fundraisers, but unfortunately, we have seen more and more books that promote and support LBGTQ+ views,” the school wrote. “We’re at a crossroads where we share different values and beliefs, especially when it comes to exposing young children to adult topics. Friendswood Christian School is a private institution devoted to creating a complete learning environment for children by incorporating Christian principles into the academic framework. We want to provide an environment where children can hang on to their innocence as long as possible.”


As Texas enters its third straight school year of coordinated book banning activity, a growing number of districts are targeting library books. Caught in the dragnet: books featuring a “naked” crayon and one with a cartoon butt.

BY JEREMY SCHWARTZ, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE AND PROPUBLICA
 
A reflection of an American flag is visible as a Little Free Library, which was designed to look like a prison, invites residents to take books that the library says have been challenged by schools across the state of Texas, in Houston, Texas, U.S. May 3, 2023.   REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare - RC25R0AT2JN3
The American flag reflects off a Houston Little Free Library designed to look like a prison filled with banned books. Credit: Callaghan O’Hare/Reuters
 

 
 
 
 
 

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Funny story in a grocery store

I had to take Ron to get his eye appointment as he would be dilated.  On the way back to our home, we stopped at the Publix store just a mile or two down the road from us, and where we are well known.  While checking out we were chatting with the cashier and the young woman bagging the groceries.  I really like the Publix stores and their employees.   Very friendly and helpful, and the people doing the bagging always ask if they can help me out to the car with the groceries.  As we were leaving, the cashier asked if Ron and I were brothers or something, noting how well we got along and were often together.   I looked back and said no, we are spouses and married.  She beamed and was congratulating us, the young woman doing the bagging started clapping while also beaming.   I knew some of the people working there knew we were a couple, I had already been asked before.   Only one person struggled to understand it as he was new to the country, but the other staff rushed to explain it to him.  Once he understood, he seemed OK with the idea, if still confused.  I could tell from his very deep accent, he simply had not thought of two men being married.  But back to today, as we stood there, I looked around.  In the check-out aisle next to us, another cashier and bagging person were both smiling and nodding and most of the people in line did not seem bothered … except the woman in the front being checked out.  She stared at Ron and me with a horrified, shocked look on her face.  She looked like she had just smelt the worst sewer smell she had ever smelled and felt the poop running down her leg.  I almost laughed as it was so over the top.  Ron thankfully missed it and was saying goodbye to everyone as we started walking out. 

But it stuck in my mind.  Publix is known for being a semi religious company, they make it a priority to treat staff well, they have a strong pro LGBTQIA policy, they hire disabled workers a lot, more than any company I have seen.  One of the bagging persons is a young man with only one hand and good arm.  His other arm is smaller, thinner, and yet he can bag groceries with the best of them.  Another is a very mentally challenged young adult who lives in our park, who has worked there since he was a teenager.  One of the cashiers is an 84-year-old woman with oxygen they treat like a queen who is loved by all and lives to come to work.  Which brings up another point, not all religious groups are automatically anti-LGBTQIA.   Publix is not.  They are very supportive of the LGBTQIA.  

This woman with the horrified face is an example of what is happening more and more in Florida.  Five to ten years ago there was only acceptance of Ron and me.  Sometimes it was stumbling but very supportive.  Now it is about 70-30 to if the response will be positive or aggressively negative.   In January 2015 Ron and I went to the clerk of the court to get married, we were the first same-sex couple in Lee County.  There was a slight delay in our ceremony, not because of anti-same sex marriage feelings though.  All the clerks wanted to be the ones to marry us.  When they told us what was going on that the entire office wanted to be involved, we invited them, all who wanted to come.  The office took an unofficial break while we got married with the entire office staff in attendance.  The package we paid for was a five-minute ceremony with a dozen pictures.  It took nearly an hour and I have hundreds of pictures.  So the Florida of then was very progressive.   Sadly, that has changed.

I have grown my hair very long.   While I clearly am not trans and don’t pretend to be, I get a lot of animosity for that, a lot of hostile looks.   And also some very leering scary ones where someone is making it clear they think I am available to … rent.  I am an out of shape, fat, 60 year old man, with a very large belly and walk with a cane!  What kind of freak do you have to be to think I am a sex worker because I have very long hair.    Either that or they are the most desperate involuntary celibates I have ever seen.  But back to the story, I have over the last year faced push back when affirming that my spouse is Ron, a male, when filling out medical forms and in doctor’s offices.  When at a new provider the MA was taking my information, and it came to emergency contact and family, I stated Ron and our relationship.  She paused, then got up and left.  After a few minutes a different MA came in and continued with no explanation of the change.  But I knew.  It is again becoming the 1990s again, and I feel too old to take on that same fight. 

The great news is how happy everyone seemed at the store when I answered the question with “He is my spouse, we are married”.  The bad is at least one person was openly horrified like I would gay her right there, how would she explain that to her family and hate preacher.  The bad news is DeathSantis and his people have made Florida a lot less accepting to those not white fundamentalist Christian nationalist cis straight people.   When do the lynchings restart?   Hugs

   

Children’s picture book flagged at Alabama library because author’s last name is ‘Gay’

https://www.al.com/news/2023/10/childrens-picture-book-was-on-library-list-to-be-moved-to-adult-section-because-authors-last-name-is-gay.html

How far will these racist bigots take their crusade to take the US society back to the 1950s?  Books banned not for sexual content but for the fact that the last name of the author being gay and another for the fact that an unarmed black teenager is shot.  Only white cis straight morally Christian sanitized stuff is fit for people to read.   Banning adult magazines for adult people is coming next.  Below is a quote from the article.   Hugs

“This proves, as always, that censorship is never about limiting access to this book or that one. It is about sending the message to children that certain ideas—or even certain people—are not worthy of discussion or acknowledgement or consideration,” Brassard said. “This is a hateful message in a place like a public library, where all children are meant to feel safe, and where their curiosity about the world is meant to be nurtured.”


"Read Me A Story, Stella"

“Read Me A Story, Stella” was added to a book list of potentially sexually explicit books at the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library because the author’s last name is Gay.

“Read Me a Story, Stella” is a children’s picture book about a pair of siblings reading books together and building a doghouse. However, because the author’s name is Marie-Louise Gay, the book was added to a list of potentially “sexually explicit” books to be moved from the children’s section of the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library (HCPL) system.

 

Gay’s book has never been “mistakenly censored,” according to Kirsten Brassard, Gay’s publicist at Groundwood Books.

 
 

“Although it is obviously laughable that our picture book shows up on their list of censored books simply because the author’s last name is Gay, the ridiculousness of that fact should not detract from the seriousness of the situation,” Brassard said in a statement.

 
 

Brassard mentioned other books on the list, including Angie Thomas’ “The Hate U Give,” which has no LGBTQ themes or sexual content but does depict the shooting of an unarmed Black teenager at the hands of police.

 
 

“This proves, as always, that censorship is never about limiting access to this book or that one. It is about sending the message to children that certain ideas—or even certain people—are not worthy of discussion or acknowledgement or consideration,” Brassard said. “This is a hateful message in a place like a public library, where all children are meant to feel safe, and where their curiosity about the world is meant to be nurtured.”

 
 

HCPL executive director Cindy Hewitt admitted “Read Me a Story, Stella” should not have been put on the list and was added because of the keyword “gay.”

 
 

“Obviously, we’re not going to touch that book for any reason,” Hewitt said. She’s also read “The Hate U Give” and said it’s an excellent book that no librarian should remove from the young adult section. Hewitt insists there was never any intention to target the LGBTQ community. Instead, she was hoping to be “proactive instead of reactive.”

 
 

“Read Me a Story, Stella” was one of 233 titles slated to be reviewed and potentially moved. However, after internal and public criticism that the list targeted the LGBTQ community, the process was halted. Librarians moved some of the books to the adult section, and some have not been re-catalogued.

 
 

“We wanted to be proactive and allow our library staff to look at our collection and make decisions about moving material to an older age group and not have someone from outside dictating that for us,” Hewitt said. She added that HCPL considers public opinion, but “our librarians are trained in collection development, and it should be their responsibility to examine the collection and make those changes.”

 
 

Hewitt said the review was based on a list of 102 books compiled by Clean Up Alabama. Clean Up Alabama has been targeting “sexually explicit” books in libraries around the state this year. “Read Me A Story, Stella” is not on this list. She said the library was gearing up for “unprecedented” book challenges by using this list as a starting point.

 
 

AL.com received a copy of the book review list for the Madison branch and found that 91% of 233 titles had the words lesbian, gay, transgender, gender identity, or gender non-conforming in the subject header, which lists numerous themes for each book. Hewitt said the keywords she asked the 10 branch managers at HCPL to use were “sexuality, gender, sex, and dating.”

 
 

Hewitt insisted this was a miscommunication problem and there was confusion about the process. “We understand and appreciate our community, and the needs of our collection to reflect our community,” Hewitt said. “We were never eliminating any book. We were just looking at it as a whole.”

 
 

Alyx Kim-Yohn is a circulation manager at the Madison branch of the library and said it’s “cosmically ironic” that the situation escalated during Banned Books Week. Kim-Yohn was frustrated because the directive wasn’t simply a review of the books. They said this was a mandate to review and move the books based on a list from the Alabama Public Library Service, which Hewitt confirmed doesn’t exist yet.

 
 

“The decision had been made,” Kim-Yohn said. “There was no debate. There’s no conversation. This is what was happening.”

 
 

Kim-Yohn refused to participate because they said it violated their professional ethics. They said even if they weren’t queer, they wouldn’t participate.

 
 

“Why are we just unilaterally moving all of this before anyone’s even complained about these books yet?” Kim-Yohn wondered.

 
 

Hewitt said she didn’t know how many books librarians moved and returned because she took a “hands-off approach” to the process. Community members with the group Read Freely Alabama, which is against the book challenges, visited several branches and compiled a list of 40 books moved into the adult section from various branches in Madison County.

 
 

AL.com obtained this list and determined that at the time of publication, several books are designated as “adult” in the online catalog at the North Huntsville branch but “young adult” in other branches, including “A Quick and Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns,” “What’s The T: The Guide to All Things Trans and/or Nonbinary,” and “We Deserve Monuments” a mystery novel about an LGBTQ biracial teen.

 
 

Kim-Yohn hopes Hewitt apologizes and hopes this never happens again. They also want to encourage the public to visit libraries and utilize staff despite this incident.

 
 

“If you’re mad, what we need you to do is to come check these books out, come to story times, put in purchase requests for books that you want to see,” Kim-Yohn said. “We need you to keep supporting the library.”

 
 

The books in question were checked out or renewed more than 8,000 times. The full list of books slated for review and potential relocation is below.

 
 

 

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Sounds like a headline from The Onion, but I don’t think anything they can come up with can quite match the current absurdity of reality.

Can books about the Hiroshima bombing be far behind, because of the B-29 bomber Enola Gay?

The absurdity and irrationality of the fascists’ goal to silence, cancel and eradicate the lgbt community from America. Where are the protests?

Most people don’t care, a good portion think it’s isolated and not really that bad and the rest are too far away from where they things are happening.

 

Loads of animals are gay, experts find

https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/10/07/loads-of-animals-are-gay-experts-find/

Loads of animals are gay