Fox News Political Analyst Juan Williams said in a Monday column for The Hill that the phrase "parents' rights" is code for "white race politics."
The column focused on Virginia's gubernatorial election between former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) and Businessman Glenn Youngkin (R), a race that has become hotly contested, due in part to the two candidates' stances on parents' rights in education. Youngkin supports parents influencing what schools teach their children while McAuliffe does not think parents "should be telling schools what they should teach."
Youngkin is leading in several polls just ahead of the Nov. 2 election despite the commonwealth going to a Democrat in the last few elections. A recent Fox News poll shows the Republican with an eight-point edge both overall and particularly on the issue of education.
Williams argues in his column that "parents’ rights" is a "Culture Wars" campaign that is full of racial division.
"It is a campaign to stop classroom discussion of Black Lives Matter protests or slavery because it could upset some children, especially white children who might feel guilt," he wrote.
The liberal commentator also alleged that controversy in Loudoun County Public Schools comes from "white parents" feeling "ignored when they complain that their children are uncomfortable learning about racism."
Parents of all races have increasingly shown up to school board meetings, in Loudoun County and across the commonwealth, to protest school districts adopting critical race theory, which teaches children that white people are oppressors and non-white people are oppressed.
In May, Shawntel Cooper, a black mother, gave a speech to the Loudoun County school board, calling the controversial doctrine "racist" and "abusive."
Williams further argues in his column that parents taking issue with the book, "Beloved," is racist due to the author being a black woman.
"The attack on ‘Beloved’ is a direct attack on all great writing about race in America — especially from the Black point of view," he wrote.
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Williams also backed the National School Boards Association's Sept. 29 letter to the White House, which suggested that the actions of parents protesting at school board meetings were akin to a "form of domestic terrorism" and requested federal assistance to address what the letter called "threats." The NSBA later apologized to its members for the language used in its letter.
"Things have gotten so bad that the National School Boards Association pleaded with the Biden administration in a September letter to use federal law enforcement to protect school board members from threats of violence and other forms of bullying," he wrote.
He concluded by saying that "This movement is not about parents. It is about exciting the far-right base by stirring up racial division. If it works, Republicans will have reason to continue down this dark path to winning elections."
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