Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) gave an impassioned speech on the floor of the House on Friday against the parents Bill of Rights Act, which requires schools to publish curricula and reading lists online.
“Look at these books that have been banned because of Republican measures,” she said holding up some books. “‘The Life of Rosa Parks,’ is apparently ‘too woke’ by the Republican Party. ‘Song of Solomon’ is ‘unacceptable’ for Republican politics.
The lawmaker actually said the goal of the bill, which House Republicans passed on Friday, is not to give them more information about their children’s education — but to control what students can and can’t read.
“The Life of Rosa Parks,” a biography of the civil rights hero who fought segregation, is one of 176 titles that schools in Duval County, Florida, removed from the classroom for review, according to Insider. According to the nonprofit PEN America, the books under review have been shelved for months “with little indication of when they might return to the classroom.”
The publisher of a textbook used in 45,000 Florida schools recently removed references to Rosa Parks’ race from a draft lesson plan, according to The New York Times. The publisher, Studies Weekly, said this was done to comply with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) “Stop WOKE Act.”
“In Florida, we fight state-sanctioned racism that is a critical race theory,” DeSantis said in his 2021 legislative proposal. “We will not allow Florida tax dollars to be spent on teaching children to hate our country or to hate.”
When Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) gave an equally impassioned speech on Friday, Ocasio-Cortez expounded on the troubling focus by Republicans on gender and sexual orientation – and said nearly half of the banned books “specifically deal with LGBT issues.”
“This Republican bill asks the government to force LGBT people before they are ready,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “And talking about parental rights in this gallery right now, the National Parents Association is here, ‘Don’t do this.'”
Ocasio-Cortez noted the National Parents Union, a network of advocacy and activist organizations, has “asked the Republican Party to take the culture war outside the classroom” to no avail.
Perhaps most surprisingly, he is confused by those who claim to be champions of free speech when they are just trying to do so.
“When we talk about progressive values, I can say what my progressive values are,” said Ocasio-Cortez. “And that’s freedom over fascism.”