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- Mar 6, 2017
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Once Republicans started to falsely accuse educators and librarians of "grooming" children for sexual abuse, it was just a matter of time before the talk of imprisoning them began. Sure enough, in a clip collected by Tennessee Holler, a recently-elected district attorney in Hamilton County, Tennessee, did just that during a meet-and-greet between her, the pro-censorship group Moms for Liberty (whose name would do George Orwell proud) and the local sheriff. In the video, recorded in May, you can hear an anti-liberty "Mom" ask, "Do you feel like there should be some kind of prosecution for these librarians?"
Coty Wamp, the county's new DA, offers a throat-clearing "tough one," before affirming that prosecution is on the table: "There's going to come a time, in some of these books, where it crosses a criminal line. It's called contributing to the delinquency of a minor."
Now that the video has gone viral, Wamp is denying that she intended to say what she said. When contacted by Jezebel, she unleashed a confusing disawowal, claiming she never meant to say she would "prosecute librarians or teachers for the books that are in our schools," but was only talking about some imaginary scenario in which "an adult was standing on a street corner handing out pamphlets to young children that depict sexual acts." As the video shows, of course, she was responding to a question about librarians, at an event held by a group whose main political activity is harassing librarians and schoolteachers over books with "woke" content they don't like.
Indeed, in that same Jezebel interview, Wamp hedged again, in a way that sounds very much as if she has not ruled out prosecuting librarians and teachers for allowing kids to read book with content that offends the racist or homophobic sensibilities of Republicans:
Clearly, the Republican war on reading in just beginning. Ever since GOP hedge-fund zillionaire Glenn Youngkin won the 2021 race for Virginia's governor with a campaign that celebrated attempts to censor Nobel-winning novelist Toni Morrison, Republicans across the country have been swept up in a book-banning frenzy. Using fake concerns about "the children" as cover, Republicans have waged all-out war on not just books but any form of speech deemed "woke," usually because it advocates antiracism or humanizes LGBTQ people. Red states have been banning books and terrorizing teachers for anything they deem "critical race theory," now a shapeless umbrella term used to demonizes everything from teaching Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington to telling kids that the Holocaust was bad. Hoary myths that gay people "recruit" children have been revived by simply updating the terminology — these days, LGBTQ people are accused of "grooming" children, with no evidence required — and used to justify legislation such as Florida's "don't say gay" law, effectively forcing queer teachers and students into the closet. The circle of censorship is expanding, as conservatives have started to target drag shows and Pride parades, trying to shut down any public expression of queerness or gender diversity.
(full article online)
www.salon.com
Coty Wamp, the county's new DA, offers a throat-clearing "tough one," before affirming that prosecution is on the table: "There's going to come a time, in some of these books, where it crosses a criminal line. It's called contributing to the delinquency of a minor."
Now that the video has gone viral, Wamp is denying that she intended to say what she said. When contacted by Jezebel, she unleashed a confusing disawowal, claiming she never meant to say she would "prosecute librarians or teachers for the books that are in our schools," but was only talking about some imaginary scenario in which "an adult was standing on a street corner handing out pamphlets to young children that depict sexual acts." As the video shows, of course, she was responding to a question about librarians, at an event held by a group whose main political activity is harassing librarians and schoolteachers over books with "woke" content they don't like.
Indeed, in that same Jezebel interview, Wamp hedged again, in a way that sounds very much as if she has not ruled out prosecuting librarians and teachers for allowing kids to read book with content that offends the racist or homophobic sensibilities of Republicans:
Clearly, the Republican war on reading in just beginning. Ever since GOP hedge-fund zillionaire Glenn Youngkin won the 2021 race for Virginia's governor with a campaign that celebrated attempts to censor Nobel-winning novelist Toni Morrison, Republicans across the country have been swept up in a book-banning frenzy. Using fake concerns about "the children" as cover, Republicans have waged all-out war on not just books but any form of speech deemed "woke," usually because it advocates antiracism or humanizes LGBTQ people. Red states have been banning books and terrorizing teachers for anything they deem "critical race theory," now a shapeless umbrella term used to demonizes everything from teaching Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington to telling kids that the Holocaust was bad. Hoary myths that gay people "recruit" children have been revived by simply updating the terminology — these days, LGBTQ people are accused of "grooming" children, with no evidence required — and used to justify legislation such as Florida's "don't say gay" law, effectively forcing queer teachers and students into the closet. The circle of censorship is expanding, as conservatives have started to target drag shows and Pride parades, trying to shut down any public expression of queerness or gender diversity.
(full article online)
GOP's war on books: They don't just want to control your body
Gutting public schools, targeting booksellers, shutting down libraries: Every censorship tactic is on the table
www.salon.com
