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While hosting one of the oldest and most prestigious literary awards in the US, Reading Rainbow star Levar Burton said he would fight conservative group Moms for Liberty.
On Wednesday, the Star Trek: The Next Generation actor said during his opening monologue at the 74th National Book Awards ceremony in New York, “Before we get going, are there any Moms for Liberty in the house?” to laughter from the audience.
“Moms for Liberty?” he continued. “No? Good. Then hands will not need to be thrown tonight.”
The parental rights group formed in response to onerous COVID restrictions in schools was labeled an extremist group by the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
The SPLC in their 2022 Year in Hate and Extremism report, called Mom’s For Liberty an “extremist” coalition of “far-right antigovernment parents” known for “intimidating and harassing teachers and school officials.”
Moms For Liberty plans to sue the SPLC for defamation.
Moms for LIberty responded to Burton's remarks on X writing, "American moms weep as a childhood favorite, Reading Rainbow, calls for physical attacks against us because we are protecting the innocence of our children.@levarburton, why have you sunk so low? Threatening physical violence against women?"
The 66-year-old actor also discussed the group during a recent interview with Esquire, rejoicing that “hardly any candidates backed by Moms for Liberty won their races” during the 2023 election cycle.
He added, “These are people who would rather children not know the truth. Those kids will never know what they’re missing, but it’s our job to stand up for them, to be their voices and their advocates. That’s what being an elder in this society means to me.”
In 2022, the former PBS star went on The View to demonize groups that have objected to books in school libraries that contain hyper-sexualized content and critical race theory.
Burton said, “We have this aversion in this country to knowing about our past. And anything that is unpleasant, we don’t want to deal with.”
He continued, “This is not going away. Nothing goes away, especially if you ignore it. So, read the books they’re banning. That’s where the good stuff is. If they don’t want you to read it, there’s a reason why.”
There were more fireworks at the awards on Wednesday night as at least one sponsor pulled out of the awards after discovering that some of the authors nominated for awards planned to call for a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists.
Zibby Owens of Zibby Books announced in a Substack post that a “source” had tipped her off that “all the nominees of the awards had gotten together as a block and decided to use their platform when winning speeches to promote a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel agenda.”
She stated, “I don’t believe in censorship. I wanted the NBF to prevent a bullying atmosphere where speeches could be used to intimidate based on religious views.”
Owens told the JTA, “I had asked for an assurance that should any antisemitic rhetoric surface that the NBF would have an action plan around that. None was forthcoming.”
On Wednesday, the Star Trek: The Next Generation actor said during his opening monologue at the 74th National Book Awards ceremony in New York, “Before we get going, are there any Moms for Liberty in the house?” to laughter from the audience.
“Moms for Liberty?” he continued. “No? Good. Then hands will not need to be thrown tonight.”
The parental rights group formed in response to onerous COVID restrictions in schools was labeled an extremist group by the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
The SPLC in their 2022 Year in Hate and Extremism report, called Mom’s For Liberty an “extremist” coalition of “far-right antigovernment parents” known for “intimidating and harassing teachers and school officials.”
Moms For Liberty plans to sue the SPLC for defamation.
Moms for LIberty responded to Burton's remarks on X writing, "American moms weep as a childhood favorite, Reading Rainbow, calls for physical attacks against us because we are protecting the innocence of our children.@levarburton, why have you sunk so low? Threatening physical violence against women?"
The 66-year-old actor also discussed the group during a recent interview with Esquire, rejoicing that “hardly any candidates backed by Moms for Liberty won their races” during the 2023 election cycle.
He added, “These are people who would rather children not know the truth. Those kids will never know what they’re missing, but it’s our job to stand up for them, to be their voices and their advocates. That’s what being an elder in this society means to me.”
In 2022, the former PBS star went on The View to demonize groups that have objected to books in school libraries that contain hyper-sexualized content and critical race theory.
Burton said, “We have this aversion in this country to knowing about our past. And anything that is unpleasant, we don’t want to deal with.”
He continued, “This is not going away. Nothing goes away, especially if you ignore it. So, read the books they’re banning. That’s where the good stuff is. If they don’t want you to read it, there’s a reason why.”
There were more fireworks at the awards on Wednesday night as at least one sponsor pulled out of the awards after discovering that some of the authors nominated for awards planned to call for a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists.
Zibby Owens of Zibby Books announced in a Substack post that a “source” had tipped her off that “all the nominees of the awards had gotten together as a block and decided to use their platform when winning speeches to promote a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel agenda.”
She stated, “I don’t believe in censorship. I wanted the NBF to prevent a bullying atmosphere where speeches could be used to intimidate based on religious views.”
Owens told the JTA, “I had asked for an assurance that should any antisemitic rhetoric surface that the NBF would have an action plan around that. None was forthcoming.”
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