Please take action NOW!
Contact your legislator in the Tennessee House of Representatives today to OPPOSE HJR0185 by Speaker Sexton. HJR0185 appoints anti-Muslim activist Laurie Cardoza-Moore to the Tennessee Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission.
The Senate version of the resolution passed this week and the House will vote on their version on Monday, April, 12, 2021. This will be our final opportunity to prevent her nomination.
For months we have voiced our opposition, brought attention to her troubling history and discredited her false and inaccurate claims. It is clear that she sees the appointment as an opportunity to further promote her values instead of Tennessee values - that are welcoming, inclusive and embrace diversity to better serve the children of our state. We need all Tennesseans to help us ensure that our children receive the best education.
For more information:
Below we have provided you with a sample email that you can send directly to your legislator.
Act NOW, the House is set to vote this Monday, April 12, 2021.
---SAMPLE EMAIL----
Subject: Please OPPOSE HJR0185
Dear Representative _______________,
As your constituent, I am writing to urge you to OPPOSE HJR0185 by Speaker Sexton, which appoints Laurie Cardoza-Moore to the Tennessee Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission. HJRO185 is on the calendar of the full House on Monday, April 12.
The Tennessee Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission reviews and recommends books for local school districts to adopt. Our children deserve the best education possible, which must be based on textbooks and curricula that expands our children’s minds and prepares them for the future.
Laurie Cardoza-Moore has a long record of anti-Muslim bigotry including a failed lawsuit that was a virulent attempt to deny constitutionally protected rights to a group of Tennesseans. Her organization Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, has previously been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Centers for its bigotry.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), has publicly urged Speaker Sexton to rescind her nomination. “Our nation’s public schools are for children from all religious backgrounds. It is disgraceful for the Tennessee State Textbook Commission to have a member with a long record of anti-Muslim bigotry. We urge Speaker Sexton to rescind this appointment.”
Her well-documented anti-Muslim rhetoric, public attacks and promotion of false historical narratives will not serve the commission or the students in our state.
Please oppose HJR0185.
Respectfully,