Last September, the New Hanover County Board of Education in North Carolina voted 4-3 to remove “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You,” by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, from its high school curriculum.
“Stamped” is an award-winning nonfiction book, specifically written to help teens understand the concept of systemic racism. But according to the parent in the district who led the crusade against the book, it promotes anti-American sentiment and disrespect for the Bible.
The decision to remove the book — temporarily, according to the school board, though it hasn’t said anything about when the ban may be lifted — from the district’s Advanced Placement Language and Composition curriculum was one of many controversial decisions the school board has made since four Republicans won open seats in the 2022 election.
It was also the decision that made at least one parent get more involved and follow the board’s actions more closely.
“That really caught my attention,” Valerie Noel, who has four children in the district, told HuffPost. “As a former English teacher, I am very against book banning and censorship.”
The newest board members have similar views to Moms for Liberty, a far-right organization that says it promotes parental rights. The group originated in Florida in response to coronavirus-related school closures and has bloomed into a nationwide organization that supports the conservative faux moral panic du jour.
“I truly believe they’re doing everything they can to destroy our schools,” Sandy Eyles, a parent in the school district, told HuffPost. Eyles founded New Hanover County Educational Justice, a group that educates the public about what’s going on in local schools. “Our school board has been an absolute disaster.”
“Their hatred for the LGBTQ+ community is obvious. It’s scary and it’s overwhelming.”
– Sandy Eyles, parent
School board races, once quiet affairs, have become a target of far-right activists who want to remake the nation’s public schools. Across the U.S., these races have become more high-profile, with culture warriors running on platforms that demonize public schooling, attack books with LGBTQ+ and racial justice themes, and smear educators as groomers and indoctrinators.
In New Hanover County, an increasingly purple pocket of North Carolina, the board of education race is a microcosm of state politics — a close fight between the Democratic Party and a GOP that has lurched further and…
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