The next time local activists spout off about free speech at the library, share this story with them. From the article,"A Western Australian library worker who refused to undergo
mandatory 'diversity' training promoting transgender ideology is now
taking legal action, after being forced from his job after 15 years of
faithful service.
Declan Mansfield, a former employee of the City of
Armadale library in Perth’s southeast, said he was pressured to resign
after opting out of a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) course that, he believed, embedded transgender ideology in the workplace.
'There should be no ideological litmus test that employees
in either the public or private sectors should have to pass to gain and
retain employment,' Declan told The Daily Declaration.
'This should be especially so in libraries, which rely at their ideological core on the notion of freedom of speech.'"
It would be a terrible pity to find out that such things happen to library staff here in the USA. Another reason the ALA is wholly unsuited to be an authoritative voice for libraries. Like all ideologues who oppose traditional values like parents' rights, the ALA changes the meanings of words to suit their revolutionary agenda. "Equity of access" is just another meaning for forced outcomes.
While the ALA states they are in favor
of access of ALL library materials for ALL AGES, what they really mean
is they want the power to force your children to be indoctrinated with
DEI, CRT, Transgender ideology and so on. They call it "freedom of
speech," but it's really freedom to brainwash and demoralize your
children.
Some books should be relocated and restricted from children, who do not have the emotional and intellectual development to effectively process certain topics. Parents have the authority to choose sexually charged and ideologically-driven books for their children, but not to force other parents' children to be exposed to them willy-nilly on a library shelf. That's just common sense. It has nothing to do with free speech. But the case below--now that's about free speech:
U-turn in Education believes that "viewpoint discrimination" is at play on the Christian County Library Board of Trustees. It's not surprising that U-turn in Education would assert such a thing about a member of the Board of Trustees.
What is viewpoint discrimination? It is government suppression of a certain perspective or viewpoint on a topic or issue, and is rightly looked down upon as a First Amendment violation by the courts. The Supreme Court, in Rosenberger vs. University of Virginia, has said:
"When the government targets not subject matter but particular views
taken by speakers on a subject, [it is] an egregious form of content
discrimination. The government must abstain from regulating speech when
the specific motivating ideology or the opinion or perspective of the
speaker is the rationale for the restriction."
You see, those who are invested in providing all-age access to age-inappropriate books in
the children's and teen sections of the library twist such arguments to
frame their narrative. At the bottom of their agenda seems to be the political
desire to dispense with parents' rights over their own children. This is a common tactic in Marxist and communist takeovers.
But
let's take a look at CRT (Critical Race Theory), which apparently has
U-turn's attention. CRT is a largely discredited way of looking at racism, its history, and how to handle it.
In short, CRT posits that capitalism is racist and must be torn down, that America was founded upon racist principles, and that the only solution is for white people to forever admit we are inherently racist and must do penance for eternity by destroying everything about America that is good and beautiful and true in order to pay for our sins.
"It's pedophilia cloaked in the ideology of being progressive."
The terrifying end-goal of gender ideology is blurring sexual boundaries between fetishistic adults and young children. This is exactly what we are fighting. pic.twitter.com/iYhuc1t9BY
Interesting that U-turn in Education would assume the Board wants to suppress free speech, and not simply uphold the rights of parents to protect their children.
Imagine if this referred to African Americans or Jews...
Elizabeth Dudash-Buskirk, the foundress of U-turn in Education, proudly describes herself as woke (in the first 15 seconds of the video). She is one of the most ardent supporters of the ALA's position of all-access for all materials in the library for all ages--which of course includes minor children.
In her article "How Libraries Are Indoctrinating Kids To Think All White People Are Racists," writer Maureen Mallarkey quotes the ALA during a moment of self-accusation, "Even the American Library Association has genuflected to the unspoken
substructure of the anti-racist meme. Amid protests following the death
of George Floyd, the ALA issued a press release heaving with self-accusation. It confessed:
The American Library Association (ALA) accepts and
acknowledges its role in upholding unjust systems of racism and
discrimination against Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)
within the association and the profession.
We recognize that the founding of our Association was not built on
inclusion and equity, but instead was built on systemic racism and
discrimination in many forms. We also recognize the hurt and harm done
to BIPOC library workers and communities due to these racist structures."
Their self-flagellation isn't really meant in the usual way. It's simply a necessary step in the revolution of overturning the system. They all know it. Mallarkey continues with her explanation of CRT:
"According to Ibram X. Kendi, a rising scholar of the white disorder called racism,
there is no such thing as being non-racist. You are either a purposeful
anti-racist or a racist. No neutral ground exists. To be “color-blind”
is a ruse. Since racism is the original sin of Euro-Americans, to be
anti-racist is to be … well, you finish the sentence."
Further on she mentions Kendi's book "Antiracist Baby": "Dedicated to all young people 'unbound by the imaginations of state
violence and white supremacy,' the book is meant to be read by white
parents to their potentially racist fledglings. “Antiracist Baby is
bred, not born.” Put plainly, white tots must be trained —
“bred” — to recognize and denounce their latent racism. As it is never
too soon to create a woke child, a newly published board book edition,
intended for teething infants to age three, is now on Amazon."
A cursory look at books (including some by Kendi) aimed at minors in the Christian County Library finds plenty of examples of books that advocate for massive social change via the implementation of CRT, among other systems. Here are some--the links are to their location in our library system:
My sincere thanks to Ms. Dudash-Buskirk and/or her associates for mentioning CRT. It needs to be explored as a Marxist function of overturning our nation. Parents and other citizens need to know that revolutionary mechanisms are being peddled to our children. They need to know the library has a significant amount of books that TEACH white, black and brown children that all white people are inherently racist.
Is concern about racism via CRT indoctrination of our children really an instance of viewpoint discrimination? Should library collections policies reflect the community and its standards in general? Should parents have the right to protect their children from racist and Marxist indoctrination? Should the library be adding such books to their collection for minors when our community values are inherently opposed to the political religion of Mao and Stalin? Do taxpayers know what books are being purchased on their behalf?
Is it possible to provide parents who want such books (!) for their children free library access while protecting the rights of parents who do not want their minor children inadvertently exposed to such materials? Why do groups like U-turn in Education pit the rights of parents (on both sides of the issue) against one another? I'll tell you why. They sow division and distrust in order to further their political agendas.
Lots of questions.
Again, thank you Ms. Dudash-Buskirk--these are questions with which our community needs to grapple. I hope you will continue to bring these issues to light. It helps everyone to hear and read about them, to ponder them and to become firm on where the community wants to be regarding such things.
