On the Front Lines of Disinformation

The strategy of propaganda is not new. Consequently, it once again is really possible to manipulate perception. So much so that people believe disinformation even when they are shown it is false. Propaganda appeals to “plain folks” with the tools of exaggeration, euphemisms, and name calling. The old adage “Sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me” is proved absolutely to the contrary every day in America. Words shouted resonate in the mind long after they are first spoken and can be weaponized to fool those who cannot distinguish fact from fiction.

In today’s political climate, the English language including the true meaning of words is so often metamorphosized. Slanting original definitions for political expediency often occurs. Groups like the Republican Freedom Caucus or Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life are the antithesis of their name.

The Freedom Caucus has no interest in spreading freedom to Americans on voting rights or anything else. The Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life name is a study in contradiction. This group does not advocate for children who are threatened with gun violence at school, programs for food for children under the poverty line, or medical insurance to keep kids healthy. It has one mission, and that is to end abortion no matter the mother’s circumstance.

In recent years a new group has picked up the idea of using words to confuse people of their real intention. Moms for Liberty is a radical right-wing organization who betrays those who are some of the most vulnerable in our society. Moreover, their stance to ban books brings back memories of totalitarian governments of the 1930s.

Moms for Liberty opposes school curricula in support of LGBTQ rights and race and ethnicity. Although not taught in grade school, critical race theory is a concept opposed by Moms for Liberty, and it’s taught only in colleges and universities. They want at every turn to marginalize the gay and transgender communities in the sad tradition of Us vs Them.

Beyond banning books that address gender and sexuality, in 2021, the group began by campaigning against COVID-19 protections in schools, including masks and vaccine mandates. By promoting freedom from healthy safety measures for children in schools, they went against the science and recommendations of our public health officials.

In the last two years Moms for Liberty has endorsed over 270 candidates running for school board elections all over the country. Included in their list of banned books is The Kite Runner and Sally Rooney’s best welling novel Normal People. This multi-pronged attack has one purpose. To eliminate students’ freedom to explore the world and its intricacies as they learn about diversity.

In a democratic, free, multicultural society, this kind of propaganda is aimed to indoctrinate not liberate. On one hand they wish to deny freedom of expression from a variety of authors and their viewpoints. And on the other hand, they disguise their real purpose of fostering prejudice to those they find different in race or sexuality.

We are just 13 months away from what will be the most important election of our lifetime: the 2024 presidential election. Moms for Liberty like other radical groups wish to disrupt our democratic process.

They are already on the radar of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which deems the group as a far-right extremist organization that enhances division among parents at public schools.

Liberty is defined “as a state of being free from oppressive restrictions imposed on one’s way of life” Children have the right to learn from reading a broad scope of literature. Parents should not be allowed to use their myopic point of view to dictate the educational curriculum.

As a society we owe to every child an education free from the politics of censorship, a censorship some engage in to gain votes. We also owe each child the critical training to understand words in their proper context.

To prepare this generation and the ones that follow, a thorough education, void of prejudice and shortsightedness, can only be beneficial to the future of the United States.