Moms for Liberty’s Attack on Free Thought

Let’s be real: Moms for Liberty is not protecting children—they’re controlling them. They claim to champion parental rights, but what they’re really doing is censoring what our kids can read and think. This isn’t just an isolated effort in one or two states—it’s a full-blown national movement that’s pulling some of the most significant books of our time off library shelves. And honestly, it should scare all of us.

Let’s talk about the classics, the books that shaped generations and still resonate today. Books like To Kill a Mockingbird, The Diary of Anne Frank, 1984 and Of Mice and Men are under fire from Moms for Liberty. I read these growing up, and they didn’t just teach me about history—they taught me about humanity, empathy, and critical thinking. And now, because a few people think they know what’s “appropriate,” entire schools are losing access to these essential works.

One of the biggest targets of this movement is To Kill a Mockingbird. The book has been banned or challenged in several districts, like in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 2017 and Duluth, Minnesota, in 2018. Why? Because it uses racial slurs and portrays racism in a way that makes some readers uncomfortable. But that’s the point, isn’t it? Harper Lee wasn’t trying to make us feel warm and fuzzy—she was holding up a mirror to the racial injustice of the Jim Crow South. By pulling this book, Moms for Liberty is essentially saying, “We don’t want to deal with the messy parts of history.” But how can we expect our kids to understand racism today if we won’t let them read about it?

Then there’s The Diary of Anne Frank. This is a firsthand account of one of the darkest periods in human history, written by a teenage girl hiding from Nazis. And yet, in Vero Beach, Florida, a graphic novel adaptation of her story was pulled because it contains two brief scenes where Anne reflects on her body and adolescence. Are we really so afraid to let kids learn about what a real teenager, trapped in a situation that none of us can truly imagine, thought and felt? If we can’t let our children learn about the Holocaust through the eyes of someone who lived it, what are we even doing?

1984 is another book on the chopping block. Moms for Liberty has been pushing to ban this dystopian classic because it’s “too political” and “disturbing.” And here’s the irony—this book is literally about the dangers of censorship and authoritarian control. By banning 1984, we’ve entered a level of Orwellian absurdity that even George Orwell couldn’t have predicted. We’re banning a book about banning books. That’s how far we’ve fallen.

And let’s not forget Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck’s portrayal of marginalized characters during the Great Depression might make some people uncomfortable, but that’s no reason to pull it from shelves. This book is raw, emotional, and important because it reflects the realities of poverty, loneliness, and inequality. It was banned in Burbank, California, in 2022 for “vulgar” language and racial slurs, but that completely misses the point. If we erase these depictions of real human struggles, we’re depriving our kids of the chance to develop empathy and understanding.

Here’s the thing—these bans aren’t just about protecting kids. They’re about controlling the narrative. Moms for Liberty claims that these books make white students uncomfortable, and that’s why they need to be banned. But since when is discomfort a reason to ban a book? Discomfort is where growth happens. It’s where empathy is born. Our kids need to learn about the difficult parts of history, not just the polished, feel-good versions.

Books that promote diversity and inclusion are essential. They help young readers develop empathy for people who don’t look like them, think like them, or live like them. But Moms for Liberty doesn’t want that. They’re not interested in broadening children’s horizons—they want to keep them in a bubble. A bubble where race, gender identity, and trauma are ignored because they don’t fit into a narrow, outdated worldview.

What’s even scarier is the ripple effect this is having on teachers and librarians. In places like Florida and Texas, entire collections of books dealing with race and gender have been pulled because schools are afraid of the backlash from groups like Moms for Liberty. Teachers are walking on eggshells, terrified of losing their jobs if they let students read the wrong book. Some educators have been put on leave or even investigated for refusing to follow these censorship orders.

This is censorship, plain and simple. And it’s not just affecting students—it’s affecting the entire educational system. Teachers should be able to teach without fear of retaliation. They should be able to introduce students to ideas, to challenge them, to make them think critically. But instead, we’re teaching them to fear different perspectives. We’re teaching them to hide from the uncomfortable truths of the world.

And I’m going to say it—this is dangerously close to the kind of censorship we saw in Nazi Germany. In the 1930s, the Nazis burned books that didn’t align with their ideology. They wanted to control what people thought by controlling what they read. Sound familiar? When we start banning books, whether through flames or school board meetings, we lose our ability to think critically and learn from each other.

Let’s talk about the so-called “parental rights” Moms for Liberty claims to champion. They’re not protecting anyone’s rights—they’re taking away choices. If I want my child to read 1984 or To Kill a Mockingbird, that should be my decision—not theirs. By banning these books, they’re stripping away the ability of other parents to make that decision for their own children. It’s not about giving parents control—it’s about taking it away from anyone who doesn’t agree with them.

We live in a country that’s supposed to celebrate differing viewpoints. We’re supposed to embrace diversity, not suppress it. This isn’t just about books—it’s about who gets to decide what our children learn. And I, for one, am not okay with letting Moms for Liberty make that decision for the rest of us.

This is the third and final op-ed in a series where I’ve laid out the increasing dangers of book bans and the growing push for religious mandates in our schools. This is about more than just censorship—it’s about fairness, intellectual freedom, and the future of our children’s education. Moms for Liberty may think they’re protecting kids, but what they’re really doing is erasing the stories and lessons that shape who we are.

If we want to raise the next generation to be thoughtful, empathetic, and capable of critical thinking, we need to stop this war on books. We need to stand up against Moms for Liberty and groups like them, because if we don’t, we’re not just losing access to stories—we’re losing access to the very tools that help us build a better, more compassionate world.