Renée McKellar’s letter, “Sanitizing the Record” (April 23), labels Moms for Liberty as “extremist,” citing the Southern Poverty Law Center’s claim that M4L is an “anti-government” group bent on ruining public education. Her argument lacks substance, relying on the SPLC’s questionable labels while ignoring similar actions by left-wing groups.
The SPLC’s 2022 “Year in Hate & Extremism” report (June 5, 2023) calls M4L “anti-student inclusion” for opposing certain LGBTQ+ and racial content, challenging books, and critiquing teachers. But the SPLC’s credibility is shaky. It has tagged conservative groups like the Center for Immigration Studies and Alliance Defending Freedom as “hate groups” despite their data-driven or legal work. Its 2010 label on the Family Research Council led to a 2012 attack by Floyd Lee Corkins II, inspired by the SPLC’s “hate map” (justice.gov, Feb. 6, 2013). A Reason article (June 9, 2023) notes the SPLC unfairly lumps M4L with groups like the KKK.
McKellar ignores this bias.
The Heritage Foundation’s 2023 lawsuit against the Biden administration raises more doubts. It seeks records of SPLC talks with the Department of Justice, FBI and Homeland Security about M4L. The SPLC visited the White House 11 times from 2021 to 2023, and briefed the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division the day M4L was added to the “hate map.” The lawsuit is ongoing, but the secrecy undermines McKellar’s claims.
McKellar says I “sanitized” M4L’s actions, but my article used hard data. A Pen America report (April 7, 2022) shows 41% of M4L-challenged books have mature themes, proving their focus on age-appropriate content, not bans (pen.org). M4L supports school choice, which aids Black and Hispanic students (52% of charter school kids, Urban Institute, May 2022). Public school funding is $14,347 per student in 2023, debunking “defunding” claims (nces.ed.gov). M4L’s funds come from grassroots donors, not elite conservatives (momsforliberty.org, 2023 IRS Form 990). As an educator, McKellar should back these efforts, not attack them.
She paints M4L as a militia, but co-founder Tiffany Justice says it’s parents and grandparents fighting for kids’ education (Reason, June 9, 2023). M4L backed 500 school board candidates in 2022, with over half winning (The Hill, Nov. 14, 2022). Yet McKellar ignores left-wing groups like the National Education Association, which endorsed 1,000 candidates in 2024 (nea.org), or the American Federation of Teachers, backing hundreds in 2023 (aft.org). Progressive groups like We Need Diverse Books push to replace classics like “To Kill a Mockingbird” (disrupttexts.org), and Burbank schools pulled such books in 2020 (Los Angeles Times, September 2020). McKellar slams M4L but gives these groups a pass.
McKellar’s letter leans on emotion, not evidence, and only resonates with her allies. My article offered a fair, data-backed view of M4L, which she sidesteps. We need honest discussion about parents’ roles in education, not biased attacks.
Nancy Fairbanks
Valencia
