Either people are getting vocal about politics or divisiveness is going deeper, but the phenomenon is now playing out in schools too. Conservatives have opposed ‘liberal’ or Democrat agenda in schools, from mask mandates to anti-racism curricula. Mostly Republican-supporter mothers have formed an organization for an effective pushback. Not to be left behind, liberal moms, usually supporting Democrats, have joined hands and getting active in unison.

First there were ‘Moms for Liberty’ (https://www.pixstory.com/story/are-these-conservative-moms-opposing-masks-gaining-political-fire-power1634649455/50047) – “dedicated to fighting for the survival of America by unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government”:

https://www.momsforliberty.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaS74VTILaU

https://twitter.com/moms4liberty

On the other side of the fence is ‘Red Wine and Blue’, who maintain “We’re optimistic and unafraid. We won’t be bullied out of doing the right thing. We won’t let cynicism or apathy hold us back.”

https://www.redwine.blue/our-values

https://twitter.com/RedWineBlueUSA

More than 300,000 suburban women have joined the national network, founded by Katie Paris: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/17/us/politics/trump-women-voters.html “We believe it’s time to get off defense. Why should we be the ones explaining ourselves?” she said: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/02/09/suburban-women-voters-organize/

In their latest initiative ten days ago, they decided to expand their focus to fight the rising number of book bans and, launched a case tracker under the label of ‘Book Ban Busters’: https://www.redwine.blue/bbb

Last summer, Moms for Liberty members and others had started showing up at school board meetings to oppose ‘liberal’ moves – transgender rights, teaching of race facts (what they mistakenly call ‘critical race theory’, which is something taught not in schools but colleges: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/so-much-buzz-but-what-is-critical-race-theory ) and of course masks. They demanded removing books from reading lists (latest to go is Holocaust classic ‘Maus’: https://www.npr.org/2022/01/31/1076970866/maus-banned-tennessee-school-board )

Paris says the conservatives’ vocal and well organized protests get airtime and force boards to act as per their demands, but they do not represent views of most parents who prefer not to join a fight. The new network is meant to help them speak up. ‘Red Wine and Blue’ also provides liberal parents tips and training for more effective resistance (like, keep calm in the face of aggression, stick to facts.)