The national group Moms for Liberty, which has been campaigning against anti-racism and LGBTQ-inclusive education in schools, is facing a backlash after suffering major losses in the recent school board elections.
The group, which claims to advocate for parental rights in education, has been involved in several controversies, such as trying to ban books that they deem inappropriate or offensive, such as The Hate U Give and Something Happened in Our Town. The group also opposes the teaching of critical race theory, which they claim is a Marxist ideology that promotes racial division and hatred.
However, their efforts did not pay off in the elections, where most of their endorsed candidates were defeated by large margins. According to a political analyst, their focus on critical race theory and book bans did not resonate with voters, who care more about the quality of education, the safety of students, and the recovery from the pandemic.
The group’s losses were also attributed to the backlash from the majority of parents and teachers who support diversity and inclusion in education, the lack of evidence and credibility for their claims, and the negative publicity from their extreme rhetoric and actions.
One of the critics of the group is a parent and teacher who said, “They’re not moms for liberty, they’re moms for tyranny. They want to impose their narrow-minded views on everyone else and censor anything that challenges their worldview.”
The group has also been the target of satire and mockery from various sources, such as a YouTube comedy video that roasted their book bans and a USA Today article that pretended to be an internal memo from the group’s executive board, trying to spin the election losses as victories and blaming the defeats on various conspiracy theories.
The USA Today article quoted the fictional memo as saying, “We are not going to let a bunch of filthy liberal book-huggers take away our parental rights and brainwash our children with their woke agenda.”
Surprisingly, the group’s official Twitter account liked the article, which prompted the YouTube comedian to comment, “We were hoping to get some laughs out of this, but we didn’t expect them to actually like it. Maybe they have a sense of humor after all. Or maybe they’re just so delusional that they can’t tell satire from reality.”
Relevant articles:
– A Moms for Liberty pep talk after big election losses to ‘filthy liberal book-huggers’, USA Today, November 13, 2023
– YouTube Comedians’ Roast of Right-Wing Book Bans Even Got Laughs From Moms for Liberty, MSN, November 11, 2023
– Moms for Liberty and ‘parental rights’ groups tanked in election, Mother Jones, November 10, 2023
– Moms for Liberty School Board Candidates Lose Big, The Daily Dot, November 8, 2023