On forced teaching of tripe

The American right fears truthful education. And unscrupulous politicians know how to scare and outrage anxious parents about what their kids might be encountering in the schools.

The point is that the smear campaign against critical race theory is almost certainly the start of an attempt to subject education in general to rule by the right-wing thought police, which will have dire effects far beyond the specific topic of racism. Paul Krugman 

... Critics say the focus on white guilt precludes any candid discussion of American history. "This isn't even a ban on Critical Race Theory, this is a ban on Black history," Florida State Senator Shevrin Jones (D) said. "They are talking about not wanting White people to feel uncomfortable? Let's talk about being uncomfortable. My ancestors were uncomfortable when they were stripped away from their children." via Judd Legum 

The banning of books about race or LGBTQ issues does not just affect those communities, said Kim Anderson, executive director of the National Education Association. It also withholds the opportunity for all students to learn “an honest and accurate truth of our history...Censoring the full history of America impacts all of us as a country,” Anderson said.

The country has been here before. Fundamentalist Christians made themselves a laughing stock in the early 20th Century by blocking teaching of evolution in Tennessee. (Yes, they still would if they could ...)

Senator Joe McCarthy went looking for Communists under beds and school room desks in the 1950s.  The great editorial cartoonist Herblock saw that episode like this:

Click to enlarge.

We do not remember these censorship eras proudly.

PEN America (a free speech watchdog) has outlined some of the goobledegook that is turning up in contemporary right wing gag laws being offered in state legislatures. The report concludes:

It is unclear how this ends. Nevertheless, just three weeks into 2022, some facts are already coming into focus. This year’s crop of educational gag orders will be even more censorious than 2021’s. They will target more institutions, regulate a wider array of speech, and impose harsher penalties. If current trends continue, they will also suffer from numerous internal defects and inconsistencies, the product of both a rushed drafting process and ideological zealotry. Their impact on the educational process may be severe.

H/t Laura Malone Elliott for the cartoon.