Book burning, gay bashing, racism and woman hating; it’s getting ever worse in Florida and Texas
Best solution – throw the rascals out this November
Book banning is on the rise in states and local school districts in 26 states. https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/map-book-bans-rise-rcna25898 The most commonly banned books deal with race, sex, police brutality and sexual identity, even the Holocaust. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/04/books/banned-books-libraries.html
This is a coming out opportunity for extreme right-wing parents at local school boards and has been fully supported by some prominent GOP governors and legislators. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22914767/book-banning-crt-school-boards-republicans
In addition to banning books, there is an effort to whitewash the teaching of American history and literature in public schools, such that slavery, the abolitionist movement, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the civil rights movements, segregated schools, and the massacres of Native Americans and African Americans cannot be taught. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-is-critical-race-theory-and-why-is-it-under-attack/2021/05 The rallying cry for this conservative effort to rewrite American history and literature is the banning of “critical race theory”, which is a law school academic theory looking to the influences of racial discrimination on policies and practices, such as redlining, school segregation, workplace discrimination, and police brutality directed towards racial minorities. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2021/07/02/why-are-states-banning-critical-race-theory/ And no, it is not taught to young children. On the other hand, you simply cannot teach American history or literature to students without discussing the issues played by race.
Texas has taken the lead in the nation by criminalizing women’s abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy, while Florida has emulated Mississippi in seeking to prohibit abortions after 15 weeks. https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/state/2022/03/08/florida-abortion-law-ban-hb-5-florida-abortion-clinic/9414123002/ and https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/18/texas-abortion-law/
Florida is leading the charge among the states seeking to make life as difficult as possible for gay teachers and gay students. Effective July 1, parents can sue their school districts and collect damages and attorney’s fees if they discuss issues related to sexual orientation in ways that are not age or developmentally appropriate in the classroom. https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/-cannot-teach-florida-lgbtq-educators-fear-fallout-new-school-law-rcna22106
Meanwhile in Texas, the Governor has ordered child abuse investigations of parents working to seek medical care for their children seeking gender affirming medical care – a directive that has been blocked by a Texas trial court, but is under appeal. https://www.npr.org/2022/03/11/1086039378/texas-transgender-investigations-blocked Some doctors are stopping hormone treatments for their trans patients to avoid child abuse charges. This was preceded by efforts to deny trans youth the ability to use the public-school restrooms and the opportunity to participate and compete on school sports teams.
In Texas, the issues of important medical care for trans youth have become enmeshed in election campaigns for the incumbent Governor and Attorney General as to which candidates are furthest right. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/11/us/texas-transgender-youth-medical-care-abuse.html There is a runoff in May between Attorney General Paxton and his challenger, Land Commissioner George P. Bush. https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/01/texas-attorney-general-election-ken-paxton/
Governor Abbot bested his Republican challengers in March and now faces Beto O’Rourke in this November’s election – an opportunity to put an end to his far-right policies on abortions, elections, immigration, education, climate change and energy.
In Florida, incumbent Governor DeSantis will be facing Democratic challengers in November from either Representative Charley Crist or Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. https://crowdwisdom.live/us-politics/florida-governor-race-2022-polls-2/ He is looking forward to a Presidential run in 2024, an eventuality that would vanish, if he loses his election this November.
Apparently, Texas lawmakers are feeling insecure about their prospects for re-election and their waningpopularity with the state’s voters, so they enacted a raft of new restrictions on voting. https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/07/politics/what-texas-voting-bill-does/index.html And sure enough, voters found the new voting restrictions to be a nightmare – “Twenty-eight days, three forms, and several calls -- that's what Pam Gaskin says it took for her to finally be able to cast her ballot in Texas. The 74-year-old has voted by mail for nearly a decade, but this year, she says a typically easy process turned into a "nightmare." Thirty percent of mail in ballots were rejected in Harris County (Houston) in the state’s most recent (2022) primary election.
In Florida, Governor DeSantis successfully pressured the Florida legislature to eliminate two of the four Congressional districts previously won by African-Americans. https://www.facingsouth.org/2022/04/floridas-desantis-erases-two-districts-sent-black-people-congress The Florida League of Women Voters and others are suing the Governor for violating the “Fair Districts” provision of the Florida Constitution, adopted in 2010 by over 60% of Florida voters. https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/opinion/2022/04/26/florida-redistricting-plan-violates-law-against-racial-gerrymandering/7442190001/