Reshma Saujani (bio here) is an American lawyer and activist who believes in empowering girls. That’s made her a target of rightwing haters.
Saujani founded a nonprofit called Girls Who Code, and wrote a series of books called Girls Can Code, aimed at empowering girls to pursue high-paying jobs in technology. That apparently set off conservatives who — one presumes — thinks a girl’s place is pumping out babies.
They lied about Saujani’s books, falsely claiming they were pornography, and a Pennsylvania school district ordered teachers not to use the books in classrooms, and lied about it. The rightwing group behind the ban lied, too, falsely claiming Saujani said, “We use pornography to teach kids to code.”
The ban didn’t last long, only a few days, because publicity and pressure from teachers, parents, and students forced the school district to back down on banning Saujani’s books. But the rightwingers didn’t let up on smearing her.
Why would someone have it in for teaching girls computer coding skills? Saujani explains, “it sends a powerful message to our girls: you do not belong. Coding, technology, opportunity—they’re not for you. And girls who look like you gaining hard skills—Black girls, brown girls, gay girls, Muslim girls—won’t be celebrated in our society, but banned.” She says,
“This experience has opened my eyes to the fact that book bans aren’t just about books, and groups like Moms for Liberty aren’t just fringe actors. I’ve watched conservatives, under the guise of ‘parental rights,’ using our schools to drive a right wing agenda that aims, among other things, to oppress women and prevent us from ever achieving equity.
“I see these issues as interconnected: whether it’s coming for our bodies by taking away our right to reproductive freedom, or coming for our minds by banning books that give our girls a path to economic opportunity, it’s all about keeping our girls ‘in their place’—and in fact, sending us backward.”
Whether she’s right or not, this much is clear: There’s an organized push by the political right to take over public schools and dictate what teachers can teach, and children can learn. This isn’t about “parental rights” at all, it’s about reshaping American society to their liking, whether you like it or not. Some people call them the “American Taliban.” And, with typical irony, the very people who complain about “cancel culture” are pursuing it with a vengeance.
Read story here.