An email tip line set up by the Virginia governor to track which schools are teaching students about systemic racism has instead been inundated with meme quoting everything from Bee Movie to the lyrics of Megan Thee Stallion.
On Monday, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced an email tip line that encouraged parents to report if critical race theory was being taught in schools. Critical race theory, an academic term describing the analysis of how racial power structures have been upheld in institutional forms of society such as the legal system, has become a flashpoint for Republicans in the last year.
The newly elected governor banned it in schools in his first executive order and asked parents to contact the government if they felt their rights were being violated.
It was very telling that a tip line was set up to report teachers who are teaching children about racism, and not a tip line for children who are suffering from racism.
He joked about it. The thread, which he says has over 3 million impressions, spawned a huge call to action and received overwhelming support from both parents and educators in raising awareness of the issue.
GOP VA Governor just set up a tip line to report schools & teachers who teach about racism.Email: helpeducation@governor.virginia.govWhatever you do, don't make a mockery of this with fake tips. That would be a terrible thing to do. RT so everyone knows NOT to send fake tips.
05:25 PM - 25 Jan 2022
I have always believed that we need to fight bad ideas with better ideas. This tip line is ridiculous. The education system was built with bipartisan support.
When she saw the tip line, student and hacktivist Sofia Ongele immediately jumped to action, using her coding skills to create auto-generated email formats so people could flood the inbox.
As a Black person, I know that misinformation can lead to hate and violence. Her TikTok is full of information, news, and tools she has made to encourage online activism against inequity.
The tip line is trying to vilify educators for doing their job. Youngkin is using the term as a bogeyman to sow fear and divide people, particularly among ignorant and fearful members of the hegemonic class. I don't want this tip line to exist.
She needs to work on messing it up. A website was built that made an email to the governor with the name of an actual Virginia school mixed with song lyrics and pop culture meme.
Critical race theory is being taught at Narrows High School. My kids said to switch my wig and make him feel like he cheated.
If I am mistaken, Unity Reed High School is teaching racism. My kids told Roman to take his medication.
Within the first nine hours of going public, 27,000 unique users visited the site after the link to it was shared. The TikTok has over 300,000 views.
A similar auto-generator for contacting officials in support of the Jan. 6 insurrection last year is one of the tools Ongele has done coding work to dismantle. She is overjoyed that the project has gone viral because it is an issue that affects other young people.
If I am 5 years old, I can experience racism, and someone 10 years old can learn about it. This Virginia tip line is not a stand-alone incident.
There is a senator in Mississippi who has a phone number tip line to report critical race theory in schools, and I hope I can post something that I hope.
The young people fighting this tip line are viewed with great admiration by Rashid. When you look at some of the nation's greatest historical icons, they were in their teens when they first got involved, and that's what these kids are doing. They are using the tools of today in a really effective way to push back against hate.
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