A book for 10- and 11-year kids is being distributed in New York City school libraries with blatant liberal indoctrination messaging, according to irate parents.
Former President Donald Trump has long ridiculed the liberal indoctrination in public schools and now parents are objecting to a book boldly carrying through on partisan politics, teaching kids their AOC's instead of their ABCs, the New York Post reported.
Anastasia Higginbotham's "What You Don't Know: A Story of Liberated Childhood" hails Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and her Democrat-socialism "Squad," while it openly mocks Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in blatant partisan messaging appearing on New York City library shelves and the 5th-grade reading list, parents told the Post.
The book also includes themes of religion, gender dysphoria, and sexuality alternatives for 5th-graders who are 10 and 11 years old.
"It's a horrible book," a Staten Island mom told the Post, saying it was anti-Catholic and its mix of religion and politics "has no place in the classroom."
The book depicts Demetrius, a Black boy struggling to fit in at school and church, along with a friend "who's queer like me."
"Churches can preach all they want about love — the only thing that I feel when I'm here is shame," Demetrius reportedly says in the book.
It also mocks McConnell, according to the author in a reading of the book on YouTube.
"That's Mitch McConnell, and the child wants to know if even Mitch McConnell is invited to love and be loved considering all the harm he is causing," according to the narrative, while not expounding on supposed "harm" of conservatism.
The book also shows Demetrius watching TV with the progressive "squad" on the screen, including AOC, Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.; Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.; and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
Higginbotham's other books have included other progressive political themes, including "Not My Idea," striking at white supremacy.
"While perhaps well intentioned, bringing political and ideological materials into the classroom can undermine trust between families and schools," Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism's Bion Bartning, whose organization strives for a "pro-human agenda" and seeks to push back against critical race theory.
"Being inclusive starts with listening to diverse perspectives, and accepting the culture, values and deeply held beliefs of all families who are part of the school community."
Critical race theory is defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica as the concept in which race is a socially constructed category ingrained in American law intended to maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites. It holds that the U.S. society is inherently or systemically racist.
Staten Island Councilman Joseph Borelli denounced books indoctrinating children with progressive ideology as "poor parting gifts from the prior administration."
"Thankfully, most of my principals have used them as paperweights," he told the Post. "There isn't any value in trying to offend parents and confuse students."
Higginbotham claimed opponents of her book favor white supremacy.
"I never expected people who cling to the oppressive, dying institutions of patriarchy and white supremacy to like that book," she told the Post.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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