Parents address critical race theory and “sexually explicit” books in Cherokee County

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — A group of parents in Cherokee County spoke out against Critical Race Theory and books they say are sexually explicit.

The Cherokee County Board of Education held a regularly scheduled meeting Thursday night.

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Neither CRT nor the books are on the agenda but there is a public comment section.

Dozens of parents told Channel 2 Action News they plan to bring up the two issues. They say they want the district to ban 75 different books.

Channel 2′s Matt Johnson was at the meeting and says that dozens of parents criticized the district and they are handling what these parents consider obscene material.

“This county is too concerned with cramming all this woke junk down our kids throats,” one impassioned parent said during the public comment section.

School Superintendent Dr. Brian Hightower told parents that there is already a system in place to flag potentially inappropriate books, but many parents did not feel that was enough.

The Cherokee County School District banned the teaching of Critical Race Theory last year after outcry from parents.

Georgia lawmakers are already debating a bill that would ban CRT from all Georgia schools.

The bill’s author insists it wouldn’t prevent the teaching of history, including the history of slavery and racism in Georgia.

Democrats questioned the need for the bill at all since CRT isn’t taught in public schools anyway. But how to define CRT isn’t universally agreed upon.

That’s what Kennesaw State professor Jillian Ford said has led to some confusion.

“Because they don’t actually know what critical race theory is, or does, it has become a general catchall term for what they call wokeness,” Ford said.

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Forsyth County Schools recently banned several books after the district determined they contain sexually explicit material.

The books removed include:

• “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson

• “Juliet Takes a Breath” by Gabby Rivera

• “L8r, g8r” by Lauren Myracle

• “Me Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews

• “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult

• “Out of Darkness”” by Ashley Hope Perez

• “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison

• “The Infinite Moment of Us” by Lauren Myracle

Forsyth school leaders say they support the First Amendment and “if students and their parents choose to read these books outside of school, that is their right to do so.”

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Channel 2 Action News is still working on obtaining a list of the 75 books that parents in Cherokee County want removed.

RELATED NEWS:

Bill aims to define and ban critical race theory in Georgia schools

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