Their names are Jessica Mendez, Amy Jahr and Michele Mege. These three mothers were the stars of the last CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference), the great gathering of American conservatives at the end of February in Orlando (Florida). In their opulent county of Loudoun (Virginia), near Washington, these white women went on a crusade against the “wokism” of their public schools, in other words against this movement aimed at denouncing, in a more radical way, all forms of injustice suffered by minorities, whatever they may be.
→ EXPLANATION. Decolonialism, wokism, LGBTQ +… Identities, the words of the debate
After the 2020 murder of African-American George Floyd, the “school board”, a council of elected officials responsible for overseeing the county’s education policy, voted to change the mascot of a local high school because the old one was a reference to a southern figure. Trainings have been put in place to help teachers identify their racial biases in order to create a more inclusive atmosphere for minorities. In 2021, the county passed a rule that requires young people to be called by the pronoun of their choice and allows students to use restrooms that match the gender they identify with. In this context, the attack on a high school girl, in the toilets of a school, by a student described by the victim’s supporters as having a ” gender fluid “, had aroused the emotion.
“Parent Revolution”
Through their mobilization, the trio of mothers propelled Republican Glenn Youngkin to the post of governor of Virginia in 2021. The businessman had campaigned on the defense of “parental rights” in the face of public schools, accused of not acting. in the interests of children.
This “parental revolution”, Tamra Farah wants to extend it. A member of the advocacy group Moms for America, she is one of many conservatives who have joined the fight against “wokism” during the health crisis. In addition to overseeing the training of candidates for their local school board, she lobbies lawmakers to ban from schools any books or educational materials that “destroys morality and the nuclear family”especially on transsexuality.
This theme is the new hobbyhorse of the right, as shown by the proliferation of legislative proposals prohibiting “trans” sportswomen from competing in women’s university teams. “Our motivation is to protect children from psychological abuse and ambient oversexualization, which can lead to behavioral problems and suicide. This is not a divisive subject. All parents want to protect their children.” she believes.
Education will be central to the midterms campaign
A promising message for the midterm elections (“midterms”) in November, at the end of which the Republicans hope to regain the majority in Congress. “Education will be central during the campaign. This theme offers parents who are not politically engaged a springboard to the conservative movement, because we offer better solutions than the left on school-related issues,” says Stephen Rowe, director of digital training at the Leadership Institute, an NGO that trains conservatives to campaign.
→ VIDEO. Seen from abroad: “The French debate on identity is perceived as hysterical”
Stacy Langton, a stay-at-home mom who presents herself as a Catholic, has had two books on homosexuality removed from one of her children’s high schools. She advocates for the creation of parental control labels for school library books. “The worlds of music, film, publishing have turned away from God and are undermining society by encouraging the sexualization of young people. Parents no longer want to suffer this race to the bottom”she points out.
Others are calling for laws to be passed that would allow parents to give consent to books being studied. And, during the CPAC, Donald Trump called on the Republicans to act in the event of a reconquest of Congress in November. Any adult “who opposes the radical indoctrination of their child should be able to take back their share of the tax and spend it in the public, private or religious school of their choice”, he said. The battle for education is well underway.
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Education, a competence of the American states
In the United States, the school system is very decentralized. Each state establishes its programs, but the school districtswhich oversee public institutions at the local (usually county) level, also have a say.
In Washington, the role of the Ministry of Education, created in 1980 by bringing together departments that had hitherto been scattered across several ministries, is much smaller than in France. With only 4,400 employees, it mainly intervenes in the policy of subsidies, as well as in the field of research and statistics.
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