Texas parents are fighting back, and they’re getting doxxed for it By Nicole Russell
Parents in Texas have been increasingly concerned over controversial issues circulating at their children’s schools, causing an uptick in involvement and pushback from school administrators.
This week, Norma Garcia-Lopez, the co-chairwoman of the Racial Equity Committee in the Fort Worth Independent School District, doxxed a group of concerned parents who had filed a lawsuit against the district’s mask mandates. Doxxing is when a person’s personal information, such as home address and phone number, is published online for punitive reasons.
“She doxxed us … I got 17 voicemails at my work from one person,” Kerri Rehmeyer, a Fort Worth mother who sued the school district to block a mask mandate, told Fox News .
“It’s astounding what the ‘White Privilege’ power from Tanglewood has vs a whole diverse community that cares for the well being of others,” Garcia-Lopez wrote on a Twitter account that has now disappeared. “These are their names: Jennifer Treger, Todd Daniel, Kerri Rehmeyer and a coward Jane Doe. Internet do your thang.”
In August, a court granted a temporary injunction against the mask mandates, but the school district continues to appeal the injunction to higher courts. While Rehmeyer opposes mask mandates, she told Fox News she believed Garcia-Lopez targeted and doxxed her because she and other parents also oppose the teaching of critical race theory in schools.
Parents have every right to be as concerned about schools implementing unnecessary mask mandates as they do the teaching of critical race theory. Fort Worth ISD has not been shy about embracing a curriculum designed to teach students solely from a race-based perspective. It has implemented one book called Courageous Conversations and held a two-day forum for teachers and others to learn about the book. The description is similar to the basis of critical race theory:
“A fast changing economy and open technology-based society requires current educational leaders to reflect how racism impacts policies, practices, programs, procedures and people, within the education system and how it has created barriers for students of color …. Participants will be introduced to the Courageous Conversations about Race Protocol as taught by Glenn Singleton. The course begins with an overview of racial equity work in Fort Worth ISD. Next, participants will learn about the Four Agreements, the Compass, and two of the Six Conditions.”
Last week, news broke that a father threatened a room of parents while defending critical race theory during a Fort Worth ISD school board meeting. A man who identified himself as Malikk Austin turned to school board meeting attendees and said, “I got over 1,000 soldiers ready to go … locked and loaded.” Malikk Austin was later identified as Edgar Austin, who lives in the school district and is listed as a lifetime member of the sex offender registry. According to records, Austin served time for the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl.
Not only do parents have the right to be concerned about what their school districts are teaching their children, or whether they are doing so with a mask mandate intact, but as taxpayers, citizens, and involved parents, they should not have to fear personal backlash from school administrators or committees. Doxxing is always wrong, but it is especially egregious when it’s targeted at parents who are simply trying to fight for their children in a time when real education seems to have taken a back seat to social justice issues.
Nicole Russell is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist in Washington, D.C., who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota. She was the 2010 recipient of the American Spectator’s Young Journalist Award.
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