Top Republican politicians and parents expressed outrage at President Joe Biden 's push to 'silence parents' who oppose or s...
Top Republican politicians and parents expressed outrage at President Joe Biden's push to 'silence parents' who oppose or show dissent to the wave of woke school boards pushing CRT and COVID restrictions on their children.
On September 29, the National Association of School Boards (NASB) sent a letter to President Joe Biden claiming that 'America's public schools and its education leaders are under an immediate threat' due to 'attacks...for approving policies for masks'.
The letter likened parents' objections to 'a form of domestic terrorism' and fueled outrage.
Asra Nomani, a mom and the vice president of investigations and strategy at Parents Defending Education (PDE) , took to Twitter to express the 'serious problem' of classifying parents as 'domestic terrorists'.
'This is what a domestic terrorist looks like? You are criminalizing parenting, and you owe the people of America a swift apology.
An impassioned mother and the vice president of investigations and strategy at Parents Defending Education Asra Nomani (pictured) took to Twitter to respond to the NASB letter. She saidL 'This is what a domestic terrorist looks like? You are criminalizing parenting, and you owe the people of America a swift apology'
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy issued a statement on Tuesday in response to Biden 'weaponizing' the DOJ to target parents seeking to be involved in their children's education.
The statement read: 'There has been a disturbing trend in the Democrat Party that wants to silence parents, and prevent them from having a say in their own children’s education.
'Parents have a fundamental right to be lawfully involved in their children’s education. We should encourage family participation in our school systems, not baselessly attack opposing views because some liberal education officials and special interest groups see it as a threat to the power they want to have over what children learn in America’s classrooms.
McCarthy then said that 'this latest decision by President Biden is yet another example of him using his executive power to federalize every sector in our society,' adding that 'he wants to use his DOJ to target American families who dare to ask questions'.
On September 29 the National Association of School Boards (NSB) sent a letter to President Joe Biden claiming that 'America's public schools and its education leaders are under an immediate threat' due to 'attacks...for approving policies for masks'. In it the NASB likened parents' objections to woke school boards to 'a form of domestic terrorism'
Nomani told DailyMail.com on Tuesday that she considers herself a 'survivor of Fairfax County, Virginia, public schools,' where her son graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology - America’s No 1 high school, according to US News and World Report - in June 2021.
She said she became an 'accidental activist' in June 2020.
'The white principal at my son’s school told our mostly Asian, mostly immigrant parents that we needed to check our “privileges."
'Born in India, I grew up very poor in our family’s first years in the United States and reject the illiberal ideas of critical race theory’s racist “affinity groups” and “oppression matrix.”'
Nomani said CRT 's ideas are 'divisive' and 'eliminate the merit-based admissions process to the school and replace it with an essential popularity contest.'
'As a liberal progressive feminist woman of color, I would urge President Joe Biden to reflect deeply on the classic liberal ideas of democracy, equality and free speech to recognize that his administration is waging a very dangerous and ill-advised war on parents who are simply seeking to raise their children in a world in which human beings are valued not by the color of their skin but the content of their character,' she said.
Nomani added: 'Nobody gets between a mama bear or papa bear and their cub. Nobody.'
In her five-minute-long video, Nomani said: 'I am a Muslim woman. I am a single mom. I am an immigrant to this country. For you to dare to try to smear parents as domestic terrorists just reflects just how tone deaf school boards and school administrators have become about the pleas of parents on behalf of their children.'
Nomani, 56, added: 'We are not the enemy. We are parents who brought children into the world and we take serious responsibility for all that happens to our children.'
The NASB 'has declared a war on parents and our children,' she said. 'We live and breathe for them and so when you declare a war on parents you declare a war on children. Think very hard about whether that's what you want your legacy to be.'
She captioned the video 'be the loving #UnapologeticParent that you are' and called on her nearly 64,000 followers to 'politely message' the NSBA.
Nomani even sarcastically changed her profile name on Twitter to read: 'Asra Q Nomani "Domestic Terrorist."'
The NASB had asked Biden for 'federal assistance to stop threats and acts of violence against public schoolchildren, public school board members and other public school district officials and educators'.
'Many public school officials are also facing physical threats because of propaganda purporting the false inclusion of critical race theory (CRT) within classroom instruction and curricula,' the letter read.
'These heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.'
On Monday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released an announcement that said it had engaged the FBI and local law enforcement to tackle the 'disturbing trend' of teachers being threatened or harassed.
The order came from Biden's Attorney General, Merrick Garland, and some say is proof Biden's administration is trying to outlaw any opinion that doesn't match its own.
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (pictured) issued a statement on Tuesday in response to Biden 'weaponizing' the DOJ to target parents seeking to be involved in their children's education
AG Merrick Garland issued this memo yesterday warning parents that they will face prosecution for protesting against schools and teachers in a way the government deems to be threatening
Parents protest mask mandates in schools in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 12
Garland failed to mention mask mandates, vaccine policies or CRT - the most widely contested issues in schools - in the memo issued on October 4.
He said the uptick in 'harassment, intimidation and threats of violence' has been in 'recent months,' a time in which woke school boards across the country have seen furious parents protest their policies and teachers quit their jobs over them.
Other Twitter users also slammed the memo, telling the NASB that 'most Americans are not behind your political agenda' and demanding that the DOJ 'follow the Constitution and the First Amendment'.
'Make this viral. (The) FBI is a disgusting and shameful organization,' someone replied.
However, not everyone agreed and one user responded to Nomani saying that no apology from the NASB was needed while another said she was 'trying to create a tsunami in a teacup'.
Some Twitter users also slammed the memo, telling the NASB that 'most Americans are not behind your political agenda' and demanding that the DOJ 'follow the Constitution and the First Amendment'
However, not everyone agreed and one user responded to Nomani's saying that no apology from the NASB was needed while another said she was 'trying to create a tsunami ini a teacup'
Along with McCarthy, Florida Governor Ron de Santis fumed that Garland is weaponizing the DOJ against parents.
Many accused Biden of implementing a double standard after laughing off far-left activists accosting Arizona Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema in a bathroom stall because she opposed Biden's $3.5trillion 'Build Back Better' bill.
In his memo, Garland said there was a 'disturbing' trend of violence.
'In recent months there has been a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers and staff who participate in vital work of running our nation's public schools,' Garland wrote in his memo.
'While spirited debate about policy matters is protected under our Constitution, that protection does not extend to threats of violence or efforts to intimidate individuals based on their views.
'The Department takes these incidents seriously and is committed to using its authority and resources to discourage these threats, identify them when they occur and prosecute them when appropriate.
Attorney General Merrick Garland (pictured) issued a memorandum on Monday ordering law enforcement agencies across America and the FBI to 'address' the issue
'In the coming days, the Department will announce a series of measures designed to address the rise in criminal conduct directed toward school personnel.'
Parents have reacted angrily, questioning the evidence behind the apparent uptick in threats and asking if the same rule applies to teachers or school boards who try to ostracize them for protesting woke rules.
Many called it an 'abuse of power' and 'sickening' example of the government going after law-abiding parents.
'It seems there are two tiers of justice under the Biden Administration: Those who align with them politically and those who don't. Democrat rioters and Antifa destroyed cities and even threatened to burn it all to the ground if President Trump won reelection last year, and Attorney General Garland and FBI Director Wray have given them a pass.
'But the moment parents speak up about their children being taught poisonous Critical Race Theory, they spring into action and label these parents 'domestic terrorists.'
'It's truly sickening,' Rep Dan Bishop said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
'Attorney General Garland's memo is a complete abuse of power and is clearly an attempt to silence parents for exercising their First Amendment rights on behalf of their children.
'What we are seeing across the country is parents finally stepping up and petitioning their local government for redress of grievances.
'While legitimate threats of violence are of course unacceptable and should be handled by local law enforcement, the Department of Justice has engaged in a frightening escalation with this shot across the bow of passionate moms and dads in a blatant effort to chill their freedom of speech,' Ian Prior, former Principal Deputy Director of Public Affairs at DOJ told DailyMail.com on Tuesday morning.
Rep Ken Buck called the effort 'shameful'.
'AG Garland is more focused on using the DOJ to intimidate parents exercising their 1st amendment rights, than he is in stopping the spike in violent crime. Totally shameful,' he tweeted.
'I'm deeply concerned the already politicized Department of Justice is getting involved in our education system,' said Congresswoman Lisa McClain (R-MI).
'Threats of violence are completely unacceptable; however, this is nothing more than a scare tactic to silence parents who are pushing back against unnecessary mandates and an agenda they disagree with being forced down our children's throats. Rep Ken Buck called the effort 'shameful'.
The memorandum comes amid ongoing battles over mask mandates in public schools for kids.
In California, parent-run groups have sued the state to overturn the mandate which they say infringes on their children's rights unnecessarily.
All kids and staff in New York schools must also wear masks indoors.
Many parents say it's unnecessary when fewer than 500 kids have died from COVID since the start of the pandemic - far fewer than the number of children who die every year in car accidents, drownings, or shootings.
The NASB wrote to Biden last week asking him to enlist law enforcement to protect teachers amid ongoing debate over mask mandates, vaccinate policies and liberal lessons.
'America's public schools and its education leaders are under an immediate threat,' the letter to Biden said.
The memorandum adds fuel to the fire over COVID policies and woke curriculum in schools across the country.
This week, California became the first state to mandate vaccines in all schools for kids once they receive full FDA approval.
Some parents said it was a premature move, given the lack of evidence surrounding the effects of vaccines on kids under 12 and the increasing evidence that COVID in kids is less deadly than in adults.
'I think any mandate on this vaccine for kids is way too soon.
'We keep hearing the buzzwords 'safe' and 'effective,' but I think the question for kids should be: is this necessary?' Sarah Burwick, a lawyer in Los Angeles and parent of a soon-to-be five-year-old told the AP when it was announced.
Loudoun County in Virginia has become a microcosm for the issues that are tearing teachers and parents apart across the country.
The school board there has seen teachers quit in protest over transgender policies that include allowing kids to use whichever gender's bathroom they want to on any given day, and making staff adopt chosen pronouns.
Now, the county is considering paying reparations to black residents.
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