Watching a Cambria/Somerset Tea Party meeting broadcast live on Facebook by John DeBartola (I cannot embed the video here), I heard discussion of the group Mom’s for Liberty. They are working to stop the “woke” curricula in our schools. The image above shows where they have chapters located in Pennsylvania. As of this writing they have chapters in the more populous parts of Pennsylvania. Bill Ragley was running the meeting. In his opening prayer he spoke of “combating all the evil we see in our country.”
Mom’s 4 Liberty local organizer, Lois Kaneshiki of Blair County is in the video above discussing critical race theory and education on January 23 of this year. John DeBartola also recorded this video. The tea party meeting discussed more anti woke candidates elected to local school boards. Accordingly, they are concerned about children being “poisoned” with woke ideology instead of being “good citizens.”
An argument can be made that being “woke” or more sensitive to minority groups does make children better citizens. These groups apparently influenced by Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida’s efforts to de-woke the educational system there. Their efforts are likely to contribute to the polarization of the area. Children in redder school districts would likely receive a different education those in bluer ones.
Another pet peeve of Mom’s for Liberty is Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). SEL promotes behavioral interpersonal skills to make our schools more harmonious and prevent bullying. Such an environment would make our schools more conducive for learning not less. They tie most of their arguments against critical race theory and SEL tied to fears that they will lead to Marxism in the U.S.
**Update**
I’ve updated the post with an interview with Kimberly Crenshaw on her books being banned from an AP course for African American Studies by the College Board.