Parent Group Wants to Use Tennessee’s New Anti-Critical Race Theory Law to Ban Book About MLK From Schools

A conservative parents group is the first to file a complaint using Tennessee’s newly enacted anti-critical race theory law. The subject of the complaint is a book about Martin Luther King Jr. and civil rights. The complaint calls the book “anti-American.”

Moms For Liberty filed an 11-page complaint arguing that the book called Martin Luther King Jr. and the March of Washington promotes “Anti-American, Anti-White, and Anti-Mexican” lessons. The group focused on photographs showing segregated water fountains and Black children being hosed down by firefighters.

They believe the accompanying lesson plan shows a “slanted obsession with historical mistakes” and would prefer it not be taught in the Williamson County Schools.

The complaint also named two other books. Separate Is Never Equal, which tells a story about segregation before the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court Case and a book about Ruby Bridges. Bridges was the first Black student to attend an all-white school in Lousiana back in 1960.

The state’s Department of Education said it will not conduct an investigation because the lesson was taught in the 2020-21 school year. The board said it will only review complaints made during the current school year.

Critical race theory has become a hot-button topic amongst conservatives. CRT is rarely if ever, taught in elementary, middle, or high schools.