Protesters from Defense of Democracy lined the easement along Dorchester Road in front of St. Theresa the Little Flower Catholic Church in Summerville on Saturday, Oct. 21, to protest a conference at the church hosted by Concerned Citizens for Education.
The conference, titled “What are They Learning?,” was billed by the Concerned Citizens for Education as “exposing social and political indoctrination in our schools” and drew the attention of Defense of Democracy because of Concerned Citizens for Education’s affiliation with Moms for Liberty.
“We have witnessed their extreme dysfunction, and we do not want that for Dorchester District 2 schools,” said Martha Sue Hope, protest organizer. “Are you aware in Dorchester County, the library policy, the school board policy is any parent can opt out of any book, right? So, you can go to the library and say I don't want my kid to ever check out any Harry Potter books. They put a note in the computer so that when a kid comes up, they say, ‘Oh, no, I'm sorry, go pick out something else.’ That's so there is not a book that is being forced on anybody. Indoctrination? When do teachers have time to do that?”
Joe Cali, a member of Concerned Citizens for Education, said the group was pleased and excited about the conference.
“We had a terrific turnout, indicating that many residents are very concerned about what is going on in our local public schools,” Cali said. “The event presenters showed factual information and evidence of declining academic performance, sexually explicit books available to children in some school libraries, classroom materials and teacher trainings that advance critical race theory narratives and gender ideology, and the activist organizations behind these changes in our schools.”
Hope said she encourages members of the Concerned Citizens for Education to volunteer at schools so they can see what is going on firsthand.
“They're not interested in schools,” Hope said. “They’re interested in shutting the public education system down. It would be interesting to research the enrollment at the Summerville Catholic School and see the correlation between disrupting the schools so parents take their kids out of public school and put them in a private school where they can control things.”
South Carolina Chapter Chair of Defense of Democracy Allan Morris said the Diocese of Charleston is risking its tax-exempt status by supporting the work of organizations aiming to elect school board candidates to destabilize the award-winning schools in Dorchester District Two.
“This is one of many protests that we've been doing in front of these types of gatherings,” Morris said. “This group is just a front for Moms for Liberty; it’s one of their little offshoots. This is part of a playbook that's all around the country. It's coming from in the state of South Carolina. It's coming from the Freedom Caucus. It's coming from the conservative Republican Party, or the very extreme. I wouldn't say the entire Republican Party, because there are some moderates that seem to care. But the really extreme ones, they want to take down over the education system.”
Cali said even in the face of a protest, the conference served its purpose, which was informing people and garnering interest.
"Many attendees said they will be joining us at our upcoming meetings, which occur on the first and third Thursdays each month at 7 p.m. at the American Legion, Post 21 on Sumter Avenue,” he said. "We would also like to thank the protestors, who generated more publicity for our event. We believe had they bothered to sit in and watch our presentations, they would have walked away much more informed and with a different perspective.”
