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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Entertainment
Martin Pengelly in New York

Moms for Liberty, meet John Birch: the roots of US rightwing book bans

Moms for Liberty Matthew Dallek United States Republican Ron DeSantis the John Birch Society Toni Morrison the Republican Party
A Moms for Liberty activist points to what she deems to be age-inappropriate material about racism being taught in public schools in Franklin, Tennessee.
A Moms for Liberty activist points to what she deems to be age-inappropriate material about racism in public schools in Franklin, Tennessee. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Moms for Liberty is a Florida-based pressure group which campaigns for book bans in US public schools, an issue at the heart of the national debate as Republican-run states seek to control or eliminate teaching of sex education, LGBTQ+ rights and racism in American history.

But rightwing calls for school book bans are by no means a new phenomenon – and a look at the Moms for Liberty website indicates why.

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