Social justice indoctrination is running rampant in America’s schools, and so-called learning experts are telling parents that now is the time to discuss social justice issues with their young children. According to The Washington Post, there are social justice-focused efforts to inform young children that they have inherent biases that must be dismantled.
Case in point: There are music classes which “develop understanding of gender and personhood” or a television show featuring a “drag queen story time,” along with children’s books on left-wing dogma such as intersectionality and “flashcards and short videos that teach parent and toddler about anti-racism ideas.”
To give their claims some added weight, the Post also noted that two Skidmore College psychology professors, Leigh Wilton and Jessica Sullivan, believe children “develop implicit biases as early as 3 months old.”
The Post also quoted children’s TV writer and program host Nicole Stamp, who said, “Teaching children to have an equity mind-set and strive for justice is giving them a crucial skill that will help them through life.” She told the newspaper, “Some children don’t usually get to see kids like themselves reflected in the media. Positive representation validates them.” She added, “widening the lens to not just include, but equally center, other identities teaches an accurate and important lesson about what the world actually looks like.”
Stamp co-founded the ByUs Box, a limited subscription box service that sends a “curated box of toys, books and curricula” to subscribers, which “aims to dismantle bias for kids as young as 2 years old.” Like many left-wing indoctrination efforts, finances and profits are involved. Stamp has a financial interest in social justice education, because her subscription service costs $89 for four boxes that will be sent to subscribers each quarter of the year (or every three months).
ByUs Box sold out of their subscription boxes, whose categories are “The Black Box,” “LGBT2SQ+ Families Box,” “The Gender-Expansive Box,” and “The Indigenous Box.” These boxes contain two books, a toy, a “hands-on learning” activity, illustrations, a checklist, a learning guide, glossary, “conversation prompts,” artwork, and other similar material.
However, that is not the end of the Left’s indoctrination efforts.
Jeannine Cook, owner of the Philadelphia-based bookstore “Harriett’s Bookshop,” discussed how she has a children’s book section that promotes Black women authors, women’s activism and women artists. Some of the books sold in that section are “Antiracist Baby” and “Woke Baby,” whose titles highlight the lengths that the Left will go to indoctrinate children with their dogma.
The publishing company, Mango and Marigold Press, was launched to share South Asian stories. CEO Sailaja Joshi said that she wanted to prove that “in the same way that it could be a White child doing it, a Brown child could be doing it.” She recommended several books, such as “Always Anjali” and “Super Satya Saves the Day” for interested readers.
The Canadian “drag performance duo” of Fay and Fluffy have been “embraced by kids for their sparkly dresses, candy-colored wigs and zany children’s storybook readings.” The pair, whose real names are Kaleb Robertson and JP Kane, were described as “performance artists who have experience in early education” and offer free drag queen story time in Toronto, Canada. Their goal is “to increase exposure to drag, support gender-variant children and create an inclusive space where everyone feels welcome.” Robertson told the Post, “We want kids to have the tools and knowledge to accept all members of their community and celebrate their differences. So, if they see someone with a beard wearing a dress, they are coming from a place of acceptance and understanding.”
Another Philadelphia-based business, Mister John’s Music, focuses on social justice by emphasizing the use of adult music in baby classes. The owner, John Francisco, claims that this strengthens the bond between parent and child. During one of his classes, Francisco “holds up a colored ball and asks the toddlers, “Is pink a boy or a girl? . . . Remember, kids, a color is not a boy or a girl, a color is just a color.”
The Antiracism Academy was founded on June 19, 2020 by Brandee Blocker Anderson, who left her job as a corporate lawyer to work on social justice. Although she planned to charge a $10 monthly subscription fee for families to access her website and app for course materials she has yet to find a way to subsidize fees for families who may not be able to afford it. Her academy builds its following on the social media video platform YouTube and brands itself as providing “Antiracist parenting and teaching resources.”
Another learning expert Dena Simmons created LiberatED, which claimed to be a community-based approach to social justice learning. Simmons said she worked as a social and emotional learning and racial justice specialist. She is also an author, but her goal is to push this “collective” to develop school resources on social justice issues. The LiberatED Twitter page described it as a “movement,” a “collective” and “a path towards liberation.”
Although the Left insists that being hyperaware of racism will solve societal ills, it does not acknowledge the Right’s assertion that raising children to be racially colorblind requires more than a one-size-fits-all, left-wing indoctrination approach.
Also, the Left’s financial stake in their indoctrination efforts calls into question whether their motivations are purely altruistic or focused on jump-starting new money-making ventures.
