Sunday Commentary: The Rise of New Extremist Groups Is Producing Impacts on the Most Vulnerable

By David M. Greenwald
Executive Editor

How concerned should we be?  When I was out at Central Park a few weeks ago to cover the painting of the rainbow crosswalks and subsequent protests, talking with some of the folks there, they were clearly on edge, noting that what had been a safe space for them—Davis—and a benign activity—rainbow crosswalks—now suddenly turned into a confrontation.

While the protest was relatively benign, some of the actions and pushback were clearly having an effect.

Contained within the inspiring comments of Victor Lagunes a few weeks ago at the school board meeting was also a warning: “Our students, families and staff, our schools have not had the positivity that we would hope, and instead some having been met with intimidation, being othered and feelings of insecurity when we should be feeling quite the opposite. Pride.”

It is not just in Davis, but across the country, that we are seeing a resurgence of right wing confrontation in the schools.

In June, the Southern Poverty Law Center added 12 conservative “parents’ rights” groups to its list of extremist and anti-government organizations.  One of those Groups is Moms for Liberty, which citizens of Davis have become familiar with as they have made their presence felt at school board meetings—pushing back not only on transgender education, but also things like Pride Day and rainbow crosswalks.

As SPLC describes them, “Moms for Liberty is a far-right organization that engages in anti-student inclusion activities and self-identifies as part of the modern parental rights movement. The group grew out of opposition to public health regulations for COVID-19, opposes LGBTQ+ and racially inclusive school curriculum, and has advocated book bans.”

The right has pushed back against SPLC, arguing that SPLC is in fact a far-left group which is conflating hate groups like the KKK and other white supremacy groups with more conventional conservative groups among which is Moms for Liberty.

For instance, Bridget Ziegler, one of the Florida-based group’s co-founders, reacted, “Outside of it being a leftist attack, political hit job, there’s no credibility behind it. It’s truly laughable.

“They’re utilizing the term hate group in a very reckless manner and I think that they should be held accountable,” she added.

At the same time, Ziegler seemed to not understand that SPLC has different designations.  Moms for Liberty is not designated among the 523 hate groups, but, rather, an “anti-government extremist group.”

But, at least for me, the response they had to the criticism for SPLC is very telling about their mindset.

SPLC’s Susan Corke explained their reasoning to PBS.

She explained, “We’ve been tracking the rise of Moms for Liberty and the other, we’re calling them anti-student inclusion groups. They’re trying to claim that they are just engaged parents, but, behind their statements, their actions really show different goals.

“We included them in this year’s report because of their anti-government principles. They traffic in conspiracy theories about an illegitimate government. They take actions to censor school discussions around race, discrimination, LGBTQ identities.”

Another co-founder, Tiffany Justice, told the Washington Examiner that her organization’s inclusion in the report was “insulting” and “absurd.”

“They just painted a target on our backs,” Justice said of the Southern Poverty Law Center. “They painted it on the backs of American moms and dads.”

Corke responded, “And what Moms for Liberty is trying to do, essentially, is to turn back the hands of time to the pre-civil rights era.”

She continued, “[T]his movement that they are now, now spearheading is not new. They are trying to change curriculum so that we don’t cover our hard history of slavery and racism. What they want is a public education that prioritizes white cisgender children and otherizes children of color and different gender identities.”

She noted that “following the 1954 landmark and unanimous US Supreme Court Brown versus Board of Education decision, which outlawed of course, segregation in public schools, that was when the real backlash arose, the birthing of this parental rights movement. The groups that arose were comprised mostly middle to upper middle class white southerners that were seeking to preserve their segregationist way of life.”

She continued, “What we’re experiencing right now is this new wave of so-called parents’ rights advocates that really gained energy during the pandemic rallying together around Covid-19 mask and vaccine mandates in schools. And then they continued on, going after critical race theory, going after LGBTQ Trans Persons.”

And what she noted as well is a change “in the composition of the hard right.”

As I noted last week, one of the complaints locally are DJUSD policies “on confidentiality when a child comes out as ‘transgender’ at school.”

I noted last week that the district lacks discretion on this issue—the school district is following state law, AB 1266.

I can also sympathize on the issue of parental notification.

But I also see this as an issue with no good solution.  On the one hand, parents rightly want to be involved in the choices and decisions made by their children.  But on the other hand, if we have parental notification laws, what is the recourse for kids trapped in gender dysphoria or experiencing depression and suicidal ideations?

There is no good way out of that dilemma when we know a sizable percentage of parents would react to such issues with ridicule, disdain, and, in extreme cases, cutting the kids off and disowning them.

And then what?  You want to force a confused and depressed child to seek legal redress in a judicial system that might not be much more understanding than their parents?

I understand the concerns of parents, but I also know what even loving and tolerant parents have gone through trying to help their children navigate a confusing time and confusing issues.

One thing I do know—pouring gas on this fire is not helping us figure out ways to traverse difficult issues during a difficult time.  And the people being harmed the most are the very people who are the most vulnerable to begin with.

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