A Texas state commission will disassociate with the progressive American Library Association following accusations that it pushes Marxism and gender ideology through children’s literature.
GOP Texas state representative Brian Harrison first pressured the state to end collaboration with the ALA.
“Less than one month after I requested the Texas State Library & Archives Commission to cut ties with the American Library Association,” Harrison said in a statement. “I am excited to report that they just informed me they will not renew their contract with them!”
In early July, Montana became the first state to have its library commission withdraw from the ALA.
“I think this is a really good move to send a really clear signal to our national organizations that we are not in agreement with the direction they are taking these organizations,” one parental rights advocate told the Montana Free Press following the news.
The ALA spearheaded a group called Unite Against Book Bans, which has earned the praise of former President Obama. At one point, the group hosted a “Rally for the Right to Read” event headlined by critical race theory espouser Ibram X. Kendi. The author has infamously argued that the “only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.”
“Dr. Ibram X. Kendi delivered rousing remarks as the event’s headliner, telling the crowd, “If you’re fighting book bans, if you’re fighting against censorship, then you are a freedom fighter!” a press release from the day read. “The New York Times bestselling author and longtime champion for the right to read shared what he’s learned as a writer whose books are frequently challenged and banned, reminding the advocates in the room and all of us that we are on the right side of history.”
Critics of the ALA also point to its leader, self-described “Marxist lesbian” Emily Drabinski, as evidence of the organization’s radicalism.
“The consequences of decades of unchecked climate change, class war, white supremacy, and imperialism have led us here,” Drasinki said during her campaign for ALA president, the New York Post reported. “If we want a world that includes public goods like the library, we must organize our collective power and wield it. The American Library Association offers us a set of tools that can harness our energies and build those capacities.”
In August, Drabinksi expressed surprise in an NBC interview that her public identification as a “Marxist” caused a political backlash against the ALA.
In a letter to the Texas state commission obtained by Fox News, Harrison urged Chairwoman Martha Wong to cut ties with the ALA.
“Taxpayer funded indoctrination has no place in Texas, yet Ms. Drabinski has promised to radicalize the ALA to ‘advance a public agenda that puts organization for justice at the center of library work,” he wrote. “The ALA works against parents by fighting to keep pornographic materials in public libraries under the guise of opposing ‘censorship.'”