Concerned Parents Are Not ‘Domestic Terrorists’

Parents across the country are concerned about what public schools are teaching their children.

Sexually explicit material and Critical Race Theory are just a couple examples of topics that are causing parents across the United States to not turn a blind eye. 

These are legitimate reasons to be worried. But, the National School Board Association (NSBA) sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking to use the authority of the PATRIOT Act to treat violent or intimidating parents as domestic terrorists. Concerned parents were labeled as ‘domestic terrorists’ for taking action and demanding transparency.

Many school boards withdrew their connection with NSBA following the uproar.

Though the NSBA apologized for the letter, the sentiment and debate remains.

Recently, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland was questioned by Rep. Jim Jordan following an email leak about how the FBI targets these concerned parents with a ‘threat tag.’ 

Many are calling on Garland to resign over how he’s handled this issue.

To summarize, concerned parents were labeled domestic terrorists by the NSBA, which sparked a justifiably enraged backlash.

Imagine desiring your child to be steeped in the liberal arts—learning english, science, math, history, etc., only to find out that, in addition (or subtraction) to this curriculum, they are also being read Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice, a book that further pushes a race-centric and divisive worldview on kids.

And then, when parents mobilize and take their complaints to their local school board, they are monitored, put on dossiers, labeled as domestic terrorists, or even arrested.

The FBI defines domestic terrorism as “Violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature.”

What was left off the list is “voicing one’s opinion at a school board meeting.”

Since when is attending a school board meeting and speaking up criminal? 

The definition of terrorism is ambiguous and complicated as is, and when one is labeled as a terrorist, serious accusations are being levied against that person. So if concerned parents at school board meetings are considered border-line terrorists, aren’t we all domestic terrorists when we air grievances in a public setting?

Parents are and always will be the primary educators of their children. It is their right to know what is being taught in the classrooms, to be able to voice their concerns at school board meetings, or run for school board themselves.

Parents are not domestic terrorists, but domestic leaders.