The latest in the Culture Wars

[nialla42]

If you're in the US, or even watching the news about the US, you know about the so-called Culture Wars. Conservative media makes the claim that "traditional values" are under assault, such as saying that store employees are forbidden to say "Merry Christmas" to customers, which isn't true, but it makes their viewers angry and gets the media ratings

Comments

[howlin_wolf_66]

I hope that minority content can be protected. Freedom of speech (and thought!) is important.

[nialla42]

So far, they haven't made much progress. Most places have policies in place and are probably just gritting their teeth waiting for this to pass.

[reedfem]

I thought about you when I heard of this local bullshit going on. The county to the south of me has a lot of previous guy supporters. Lots of racism, lots of bigotry.
Anyway, a couple of them got it into their heads to harass the school board into voting to ban a list of books they object to, almost entirely LGBTQ subject matter. I believe the school board even voted to DO it, but then the community got wind of it and the shit hit the fan. There was so much backlash that the board rescinded the vote at the next meeting.

But the assholes are still at it. Now they are trying to schedule an actual book BURNING in the parking lot of the building where the board meets. They are urging parents to get their children to check out all these books the parents don't want in the school libraries, so the parents can bring them to be burnt.
I'm confident this will be shut down, but these are the people and these are the tactics they are using.

[nialla42]

I really think this is a loosely organized group with the same agenda. Years ago, Focus on the Family would send out emails with lists of books to challenge at the local library. Librarians would share this info amongst ourselves, so we'd easily recognize if anyone was using the list

[ariss_tenoh]

I don't know if it's related but it certainly reminds me of the intolerance I see online by some American people in fandom. Especially on twitter. If this campaign is ongoing then it will have disastrous results on the next generation.

[nialla42]

There are a lot of "pendulum swings" in the US. In general, there's a saying about every generation rebelling against their parents. Unfortunately, the Baby Boomers were such a dominant group that they're still in charge of a lot of political issues. Many were liberal in their youth, but not so much now, though maybe more liberal than many their age.

I've been curious to see if the pendulum will swing again. The younger generations seem much more open than their parents and grandparents, but they're not the ones creating policies.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

I saw the list-750 books!

I keep an eye on our school board, and so far, I think we're ok. But I have friends in places where people have come out and threatened school board members and other speakers; it's terrifying!

I hope your area stays ok, and especially your library!

[nialla42]

That list was insane! I could tell someone was going through library catalogs and copying and pasting titles. Library records are done in a specific style and certain words not being capitalized are a dead giveaway. They were just too lazy to edit it to Title Case style.

I'm really concerned over the conspiracy theory folks going to meetings they technically have to say in. They're the ones ranting about child abuse, human trafficking, and human sacrifices, and it wouldn't take much for one to tip over and try to "stop the devil" and harm or kill someone.