Moms For “Liberty”? White Christian Nationalism and the War on Public Education in the United States

Introduction

In recent years, there has been a surge of activist groups calling for increased protections of “parental rights” in the United States public education system. Perhaps the most prominent of these groups is the conservative organization “Moms for Liberty,” a non-profit organization whose stated goals entail “educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.” (Moms for Liberty, 2022a). The group has gained wide popularity amongst conservatives and has garnered large amounts of media attention since their founding in early 2021. However, a careful inspection of the goals and missions of this supposed grassroots organization reveals a sinister truth: the conservative organization “Moms for Liberty” fosters a rhetoric surrounding parental rights in the United States that poses a profound threat to the spirit and purpose of the public education system. The group utilizes their strong, but often unacknowledged connections to the Republican party to advocate for a White Christian nationalist view of the United States that threatens not only the diverse and democratic goals of the public education system, but also strategically undermines the rights and autonomy of racialized, LGBTQ+, or otherwise marginalized youth.

This essay aims to critically examine the war waged on the public education system by Moms for Liberty. First, it includes a discussion of the origins of Moms for Liberty, paying attention to how the founders themselves frame the organization and its goals. Next, the essay turns to an examination of the group’s ‘mission,’ ‘vision’ and ‘values,’ as displayed by their official website. Then, the harmful ideologies that inform these “values” will be uncovered, focusing on the organization’s ties to the Republican party, its prescription to a White Christian Nationalist viewpoint, and the way the group manipulates the notion of “parental rights” to push forth these political goals. Following this assertion, the essay turns to a discussion of the dangers posed by this rhetoric to the sphere of public education, focusing on the role of Moms for Liberty in increasing polarization and misinformation, curtailing open discourse and opportunities for civic engagement, and infringing upon the safety and rights of marginalized youth in education. Finally, the essay briefly considers some of the public resistance that has been raised against Moms for Liberty and concludes with a reflection upon the precarious future of the American public education system.

Who are “Moms for Liberty”? (Or: Who do they say they are?)

As per their own story, Moms for Liberty was founded in January of 2021 with the goal of protecting parental rights in education. The group’s official founders, Tiffany Justice, and Tina Descovich, are both former school board members from Florida who claim that they founded Moms for Liberty to “unite parents” and foster liberty after witnessing the “short- sighted” and “destructive” educational policies that hurt children and families (Moms for Liberty, 2022a). The group frames itself as a grassroots organization that began with Justice and Descovich organizing friends and neighbors who were outraged by the Covid policies of school districts and slowly grew into a large-scale organization. The organization now consists of more than 100,000 members and has approximately 200 chapters across 40 states (Butler, 2022). The group has also quickly gained substantial media attention and have become something of a “right-wing sweetheart and mainstream spectacle” (Little, 2021).

What are their Goals?

The official “Moms for Liberty” website highlights the ‘mission,’ ‘vison’ and ‘values’ of the organization and provides resources for educating parents on these values. Furthermore, the website prompts and prepares parents to take part in this mission, which entails defending their parental rights “at all levels of government” (Moms for Liberty, 2022a). Moms for Liberty details their vision for the future in one simple phrase: “Americans empowered and thriving in a culture of Liberty” (Moms for Liberty, 2022a). This vision, which is undeniably broad and decidedly vague, is elaborated upon in their “How we Fight” section of their website.

Emphasizing their role as self-appointed “joyful warriors,” Moms for Liberty claim to fight for their values by holding leaders accountable, spreading awareness, opposing government outreach, promoting liberty, engaging on key issues, and activating public service (Moms for Liberty, 2022a). Perhaps most relevant to note amongst these values are the commitments to holding leaders accountable, opposing government outreach, and activating public service. In upholding these values, the website asserts that Moms for Liberty holds decision makers accountable or “work[s] to replace them with liberty-minded individuals”; stands together against “government overreach and intimidation tactics”; and further activates “liberty-minded leaders to serve in elected positions” (Moms for Liberty, 2022a). These goals, depicted as innocuous and even noble by the website, when examined in practice, are profoundly damaging to the nature of the public education system.

In addition to vaguely outlining their core values, vision, and mission, the Moms for Liberty website also offers various resources to parents who are looking to become involved and fight for their parental rights. The “Parent Pledge” included on the website reaffirms the organizations goals and encourages parents to pledge to honour “the fundamental rights of parents including, but not limited to the right to direct the education, medical care, and moral upbringing of their children,” and advance policies that “strengthen parental involvement and decision-making” (Moms for Liberty, 2022a). Here, we clearly see the calls to action that Moms for Liberty makes to parents across America. We also see that these calls to action are backed by appeals to the seemingly undeniable power of “parental rights” in the educational sphere.

These goals, values, missions, and pledges outlined by the organization on their website, while making specific appeals to notions of “liberty,” “empowerment,” and claiming to fight back against government overreach, remain profoundly vague, and undeniably misleading; this is not accidental. The language of parental rights, and the notion of Moms for Liberty as “joyful warriors” for liberty, is strategically utilized to push forth a political agenda centered upon valuing and fighting for liberty in a “joyful” way (Moms for Liberty, 2022a), despite its claims to value liberty, in actuality, revolves around repressive actions such as book bans, classroom censorship, and bans on teaching about race, racism, sexuality, and gender diversity (GLAAD Accountability Project, 2022).

Exposing the Rhetoric: “Parental Rights,” the Republican Party, and White Christian Nationalism

Now that the “official” position of Moms for Liberty has been established, it is of the utmost importance to critically examine the harmful ideologies that inform this position. The group makes endless appeals to the notion of parental rights as a fundamental and salient right within education, and utilizing a language of “liberty,” “freedom,” “truth” and “empowerment” to bolster these claims. However, a close examination of the actions of the organization reveals that these are, more accurately, buzzwords being utilized to push forth a much larger political agenda; one that has very little concern with the actual rights of parents (Cahn, 2023).

It has already been noted that Moms for Liberty proclaims to take a grassroots approach, growing from a small number of concerned parents into its current position as a large and expansive organization. However, the research into the groups founding and funding reveal a not-so-hidden truth: Moms for Liberty is a highly connected group, with strong ties to high-ranking members of the Republican party, in addition to strong connections with other prominent conservative groups, such as the Heritage Foundation (GLAAD Accountability Project, 2022; Little, 2021). These GOP connections trace back to the founding of Moms for Liberty in late 2020. The group’s most notable connection comes from the vice chairman of the Florida Republican party, Christian Ziegler (Little, 2021). Bridget Ziegler, the chairman’s wife and Sarasota school board member, while not officially acknowledged on the Moms for Liberty website, is listed on the initial Moms for Liberty incorporation document as a “co-director” and was credited as one of the organizations creators in a December 2020 Facebook post from co- founder Descovich (Little, 2021). Ziegler was later removed from the document as a co-director in February of 2022 (Little, 2021), but she and her husband remain connected to the organization.

Apart from its founding connections to the Republican Party, Moms for Liberty is also heavily funded by Republican politicians and other prominent right-wing organizations. Descovich often hypes up the claim that the group is largely funded by “t-shirt sales” and “mostly small donors” (Butler, 2022). Despite the lack of financial information available (due to the newness of the organization), there is much evidence to suggest that the group is supported by more than just membership fees and t-shirt sales (Little, 2021). For example, the group has hosted several high-dollar fundraisers, featuring guests like former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, Florida state Sen. Debbie Mayfield, and various Florida house representatives, amongst others; documents from the fundraiser show that the named sponsors alone donated $57,000 to the organization (Little, 2021). Heavily funded by high-ups in the GOP, the image of Moms for Liberty as a grassroots organization that stands with parents and fights “against government overreach,” appears to be nothing more than a convenient tale, used to obscure the reality of the group’s profound political connections.

These connections extend far beyond financial contributions; the group is also heavily involved in Republican politics. Christian Ziegler himself asserts that Moms for Liberty has done immense work in getting 20- and 30-year-old females involved in the Republican party, something he has been trying to do for ages; further, he also expects that Moms for Liberty will become something of “foot soldiers” for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ re-election campaign (Little, 2021). Governor Ron DeSantis is another member of the Republican Party who has expressed explicit support for the organization; he has also publicly endorsed the school board candidacy of Bridget Ziegler (the not-so-hidden third co-founder of Moms for Liberty) (GLAAD Accountability Project, 2022). Therefore, it is undeniably clear that Moms for Liberty is not the neutral, grassroots, government-opposed, and parent-directed organization they proclaim to be, but is instead deeply intertwined with Republican agendas.

With these connections established, it becomes necessary to question what exactly Moms for Liberty is fighting for? While their website offers broad claims about “uniting parents,” “fostering liberty,” and protecting “parental rights” (Moms for Liberty, 2022a), in practice, the efforts of Moms for Liberty advance a White Christian nationalist ideology. According to Burke et al., 2023, “the hallmark of White Christian nationalism is the belief that public institutions and policies should reflect and assert Christianity (the hierarchical, authoritarian, patriarchal version)” and is based upon “the flawed premise that the United States was founded as a Christian nation” (p. 3). In the realm of education, White Christian nationalism aims to assert the dominance and authority of Christianity in not only defining the nation-state, but also in defining state-sponsored (or public) education and curricula (Burke et al., 2023). From a historical standpoint, White Christian Nationalism has also been closely tied to beliefs of White supremacy, hypermasculinity, heteronormativity, religious bigotry, militarism, and authoritarianism (Burke et al., 2023).

The testimonies of the Moms for Liberty executives featured on their website begin to reveal the White Christian Nationalism that pervades their advocacy. For instance, the short biography of the chapter coordinator of Moms for Liberty, Pat, asserts that “she envisions a public school system in America that is reflective of the principles of freedom granted by our Creator. ‘God has called me, and equipped me, to do my part in service to Him and our country’” (Moms for Liberty, 2022a). Here, we see a clear depiction of a White Christian nationalist viewpoint; one that views education as a vehicle for advancing a specific God-given, hierarchical social order. Thus, the parent pledge discussed earlier, which prompts parents to fight for “the fundamental rights of parents including, but not limited to the right to direct the education, medical care, and moral upbringing of their children” (Moms for Liberty, 2022a), becomes decidedly more ominous, as we realize that the “right to direct” education, is conceived of here as the right to promote a strictly White Christian nationalist view of American society, to the exclusion of all other perspectives.

Considering the group’s intimate ties with the Republican party, alongside the White Christian nationalism that informs their viewpoint, it becomes clear that the “parental rights” rhetoric being used by Mom for Liberty has little to do with the actual protection of parental rights. In fact, legal scholars such as Foran (2022) suggest that this most recent wave of parental rights advocacy goes further than previous movements, arguing for “a decrease in state control of education within public schools, substituting the expertise of educators with their own ideas of what education should look like, and what kinds of information all students should be receiving” (1516). Therefore, these actions do not represent a genuine concern over the state of parental rights; instead, these appeals to parental rights have been “weaponized to serve particular substantive ends” (Cahn, 2023, p. 2). In the case of Moms for Liberty, the group weaponizes parental rights rhetoric to support a White Christian nationalist view of the United States as a fundamentally hierarchical and Christian society, where white, English-speaking, native-born, US male citizens reside at the top of the social order. This rhetoric threatens not only the diverse and democratic goals of the public education system, but also strategically undermines and threatens the rights and autonomy of racialized, LGBTQ+, or otherwise marginalized youth.

Why is it Dangerous?

Having explored the problematic rhetoric that hides behind the façade of Moms for Liberty – prompted by Republican political goals and a White Christian nationalist ideology – it becomes crucial to consider the dangers this rhetoric poses for public education in the United States, especially considering the organization’s rapid rise to prominence. Moms for Liberty’s harmful parental rights rhetoric has increased the spread of misinformation, diminished opportunities for open discourse and civic engagement, and threatened the rights of racialized, LGBTQ+, or otherwise marginalized youth.

When it comes to the increased prominence of misinformation, Burke et al. (2023) notes that because the White Christian nationalist movement seeks social control, “it has a vested interest in citizens not learning critical media literacy so they are more easily manipulated” (p. 8). This manipulation undeniably occurs within Moms for Liberty, as members often use their platform to spread dangerous misinformation and harass those who challenge or oppose them. This campaign of misinformation and harassment has ranged from amplifying false claims against gender-affirming care for transgender youth and falsely calling school board-members “pedophiles” for protecting student’s rights to use bathrooms according to their gender identity, to offering a $500 reward on twitter to the “first person who caught an educator teaching about systemic racism” (Butler, 2022, p. 1; GLAAD Accountability Project, 2022). This rhetoric being pushed by Moms for Liberty makes use of social media “echo chambers” and “filter bubbles” (Finley & Esposito, 2022, p. 135), and strategically spreads inflammatory misinformation about curriculum, teachers, LGBTQ+ youth, etc. This intentionally inflammatory (and often factually incorrect) rhetoric fostered by the organization only further contributes to issues of political polarization, creating an inherently hostile environment, and making it even harder to address rampant misinformation in public education (Rogers et al., 2022).

Further than spreading misinformation, however, Moms for Liberty has also used this violent and misinformed rhetoric to curtail discussion in schools surrounding issues of systemic racism, gender identity, and sexual orientation, simultaneously shutting down alternative narratives of American history included in curriculums and diminishing discussions of civic engagement and social responsibility. These attacks on curriculum are waged under the guise of fighting against left-wing “indoctrination” in schools (Moms for Liberty, 2022a). However, these attacks undeniably threaten the very spirit of the public education system; as Foran (2022) notes, the primary purpose of public education has long been considered “to create a well-educated, literate constituency able to actively participate in democracy” (p. 1545). The White Christian Nationalist view of education advocated for by Moms for Liberty is inherently in conflict with this goal of public education. The group has directly opposed teaching methods such as social emotional learning, which have been demonstrated by robust research to raise test scores, reduce disciplinary incidents, and encourage civic engagement amongst students (Butler, 2022). In fact, the group refers to social emotional learning as a “12+ year brainwashing program” that creates “agents of social change” who will dismantle the “inequitable systems””(Moms for Liberty, 2022b, p. 5). By falsely labelling alternative views as “brainwashing” or “indoctrination,” and aiming to remove them from curriculum, Moms for Liberty can be seen as desperately attempting to promote a strictly White Christian nationalist view of American society that is also reflected in the public school system.

These hostile attacks made by the group directly undermine the practice of respectful dialogue in education, as students in many states are now being prevented from engaging in discussions surrounding diverse perspectives and learning the full story of American history, which embodies diverse experiences and cultures (Rogers et al., 2022). Educators believe that discussing these issues is a critical component of a civic education, and research also suggests that students also overwhelmingly want to learn about the topics being banned or diminished (Finley & Esposito, 2022). However, the efforts of groups like Moms for Liberty continue to make engaging in these critical discussions an uphill battle for any school board, educator, or student. Speaking about his experience with Moms for Liberty, Larry Leaven, the former superintendent of the Florida Union Free School District (who resigned from his position after 15 months after multiple accounts of harassment from Moms for Liberty members), says that he fears for the future of public education, stating that “we’re going to lose opportunities of equity and equality for children and learning because of these people.” (Solomon, 2023). This insight from Leaven speaks to tangible dangers that these conservative advocacy groups pose not only to the diverse and democratic goals of the public education system more broadly, but to the lived reality of the youth who are being educated in these systems.

As already asserted, in practice, many of the efforts launched by Moms for Liberty, while proclaiming to be working towards “liberty” and promoting freedom, directly target the liberties and freedoms of marginalized groups. This aligns with the conception of Moms for Liberty as a White Christian Nationalist group, as it is noted that those caught in the “crosshairs” of the White Christian nationalist effort are overwhelmingly racialized and gender-diverse individuals, as well as other groups not deemed “Bible-believing Christians” (Burke et al., 2023). In practice, Moms for Liberty has supported book bans and changes to school curriculums that erase the identities and histories of (a) Black and other racialized (often not Christian) people in US history, and (b) LGBTQ+ individuals (Cahn, 2023; GLAAD Accountability Project, 2022; Little, 2021). Reports suggest that these book bans, which are promoted by Moms for Liberty amongst many others, have become widespread across the United States; 86 districts in 26 states have banned more than 1,100 books from classrooms and libraries (most of which were about Black and LGBTQ+ individuals) (Finley & Esposito, 2022). Moms for Liberty have also been involved in efforts that seek to override minors’ access to medical services such as gender-affirming care (Cahn, 2023). These efforts not only speak to an agenda of White Christian nationalism, but also illustrate the profound impacts this advocacy has had on the rights, autonomy, and representation of marginalized youth within the public school system. Under the guise of “parental rights,” groups like Moms for Liberty have taken action that actually works to systemically undermine the liberties and freedoms they purportedly care so deeply about, with the most profound impacts being on the rights and autonomy of marginalized youth within public schools. As educators such as Leaven have suggested, it appears that we are already losing “opportunities of equity and equality for children” in the face of these attacks. Banned from learning about their own histories, engaging in discussions of “controversial” topics, or even using the bathrooms that align with their gender-identity, the autonomy and rights of racialized, LGBTQ+ and otherwise marginalized youth is undeniably threatened, and their opportunities for civil engagement are diminished. Here, it becomes clear that Moms for Liberty does not care about protecting children from “indoctrination,” rather, they want the exclusive right to indoctrinate children to belong to them. Moms for Liberty envisions and fights for an education system where children are indoctrinated into a White Christian nationalist ideology, one which denies the rights and existence of the racialized and LGBTQ+ children that often need the most protection.

What about Public Resistance?

It is important to recognize that these attacks on public education have not gone completely unrecognized, or unchallenged. While Moms for Liberty has worked incredibly hard to create a climate of intolerance, misinformation, and polarization that is spreading rapidly across the country, there are many groups that are also taking a stand to fight back against these harmful ideologies. One such group is called “Defense of Democracy,” and is made up of parents, students, and educators (Solomon, 2023). Developed specifically as a response to Moms for Liberty, Defense of Democracy has worked to combat the efforts of the conservative organization and has consisted of rallying at school board meetings, doing outreach on social media, enlisting the support of elected leaders, and offering regular workshops on ways to combat the far right in school districts; the group has also expressed their explicit support for librarians, the LGBTQ community, and other groups currently under attack by Moms for Liberty (Solomon, 2023). After only three months, the organization has 20 chapters across 17 states and approximately 1500 volunteers (Solomon, 2023). This is notable, but still small when compared to the size of Moms for Liberty.

In addition to official groups like Defense of Democracy, student voices have also been a profound element of the public resistance to groups like Moms for Liberty. For instance, a teen- led initiate called “Books Unbanned” from the Brooklyn Public Library aims to push back against recent book bans in public schools by offering free digital library cards to all students aged 13-21, so they can access any books that may have been banned through the efforts of groups like Moms for Liberty (Woodcock, 2022). These student efforts have gained considerable support, and many teens are taking action to speak out against these bans, taking to social media and even talking directly to lawmakers about their concerns (Woodcock, 2022). However, as current high-school student Alyeah McAllistar noted, “teenagers have a lot of unrealized potential” but importantly, “not every student has a support system available to them to speak out against book challenges on behalf of adults” (Woodcock, 2022). Thus, while resistance is surely occurring, there remain profound challenges; Moms for Liberty remains a heavily funded and supported group, with ties to high-ups within the government, while those fighting against them are often not funded and remain in increasingly precarious positions. These considerations only make public resistance more of a necessity, ensuring that the public is aware of the severe threats posed by this covertly funded, heavily connected, White Christian Nationalist group that aims to destroy the spirit of the public education system at a profound cost to the youth of America.

Conclusion: The Precarious Future of the United States Public Education System

In a video highlighted on the Moms for Liberty website, a North Carolina chapter member addresses the school board and fellow parents, passionately proclaiming: “parents beware of terms like social justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, those inherently good things are being used to disguise a biased political agenda” (Moms for Liberty, 2021). However, having explored the dangerous rhetoric spread by the conservative organization Moms for Liberty, this sentiment might be more truthfully reimagined in the following way: parents beware of terms like “parental rights”, “liberty”, and “joyful warriors”, because “those inherently good things are being used to disguise a biased political agenda” (Moms for Liberty, 2021). This essay critically explored the war on public education waged by the conservative group, Moms for Liberty; the organization has been shown to foster a rhetoric surrounding parental rights in the United States that poses a significant threat to the spirit and purpose of the public education system. The group utilizes their strong, but often unacknowledged connections to the Republican party to advocate for a White Christian nationalist view of the United States that threatens not only the diverse and democratic goals of the public education system, but also strategically undermines and threatens the rights and autonomy of racialized, LGBTQ+, or otherwise marginalized youth. While public resistance is occurring through various channels, Moms for Liberty remains extremely powerful, and the threats it poses to the public education system remain unrecognized by many, which only serves to strengthen their destructive power.

References

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