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Islamophobe on Textbook Commission

Updated: Mar 16, 2021

AMAC, along with over 500 allies, sends a letter to Speaker Sexton to rescind his appointment of Laurie Cardoza Moore to the Textbook Commission. Click here to read the letter.



House speaker is asked to rescind appointment of 'anti-Muslim' activist to Tennessee textbook commission

Meghan Mangrum, The Tennessean


Dozens of faith leaders and community members are calling on Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton to rescind his recent appointment of long-time activist Laurie Cardoza-Moore to the Tennessee State Textbook Commission. More than 500 individuals, including prominent local faith leaders as well as Metro Nashville Board of Education member Abigail Tylor, signed a letter from the American Muslim Advisory Council sent to Sexton and other lawmakers on Monday, urging the speaker to not only rescind Cardoza-Moore's appointment but also to ensure members of the commission — which oversees the official list of textbooks and instructional materials recommended for use by Tennessee students — are more representative of all students across the state. Dozens of faith leaders and community members are calling on Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton to rescind his recent appointment of long-time activist Laurie Cardoza-Moore to the Tennessee State Textbook Commission. More than 500 individuals, including prominent local faith leaders as well as Metro Nashville Board of Education member Abigail Tylor, signed a letter from the American Muslim Advisory Council sent to Sexton and other lawmakers on Monday, urging the speaker to not only rescind Cardoza-Moore's appointment but also to ensure members of the commission — which oversees the official list of textbooks and instructional materials recommended for use by Tennessee students — are more representative of all students across the state.

Click here to read more.


Why we oppose Laurie Cardoza-Moore's Appointment to the Tennessee Textbook Commission - Editorial in The Tennessean

Circle of Friends, Family of Abraham, Nashville Organized for Action and Hope and AMAC


The Tennessee Textbook and Instructional Materials Commission, to which Laurie Cardoza-Moore is being nominated, reviews and recommends books for local school districts to adopt.


The Commission’s decisions affect what and how our children learn. We as a coalition of interfaith leaders, oppose her appointment to the Textbook Commission.

In her guest column, Cardoza-Moore refers to our needing to teach a “wholesome education” based on what she claims to be our Tennessee values.


Furthermore, she accuses public education as “spoon-feeding a politicized anti-Judeo-Christian agenda pushed by foreign interest groups.”


More than 35% of Tennessee public school students come from minority populations. How we talk about the Founding Fathers or slavery or the Civil Rights Movement can either broaden our children’s understanding of the world today, deepen their commitment to our nation, and prepare them to face the challenges of the future or keep us stuck in a past where we see only what we want to see.


That is the fundamental problem with Cardoza-Moore’s position. She wants to preserve the notion that America is only for those who ascribe to her interpretation of a Judeo-Christian background.


She pits "Western" values against "foreign" values and, in doing so, refuses to see the beautiful diversity that has flourished in the Tennessee of today, making Tennessee a better place to live.


Read more here.




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