I hate to give them any more recognition than their acronym, which represents the three most commonly used words by astroturf groups. American Family Association. How unremarkable.
“Astroturf “is the nickname given to groups that have been created to undermine, detract and derail actual grassroots groups. Grassroots are the local, down-to-earth people who represent the collective knowledge and will of their community, and in particular, those who are “closest to the pain” as Journey 4 Justice’s Jitu Brown refers to it.
AFA is a Southern Poverty Law Center’s designated hate group. This JCPS teacher said it best:
Regardless of what you’ve heard or think about CRT, masks, books, curriculum and more, it honestly doesn’t matter. What matters is that these hate groups are using these terms to trick you into believing we must take a stand for democracy and freedom, when in fact, they are knowingly or unknowingly, pushing us closer and closer towards fascism. So close, in fact, that I’m not sure we will ever get it back. A lot of damage has been done. Can we hold the attention of the most privileged individuals that have ever lived long enough to bring meaningful change? I’m not optimistic. But that doesn’t mean I’ve given up. I’m making alternative plans, but I’m also pouring everything I’ve got into that “one more thing, if we can just do this, we will be done” projects, as my husband reminded me just this evening. But seriously, the Nov. 8 Midterms are pretty much the end of the road for our chances to stop and reverse it. After that, the best we can hope for is to slowly put ourselves out of our own misery. If white Kentucky women can show up for our own rights, and remember to support everyone else while we’re at it, we can not only be another Kansas, we can be the next beacon on the hill, or whatever we want to be.
Kentucky is owed reparations for the generations of mountain-top removal, and honeycombing of our land so that coal and gas could be extracted using predatory practices at the expense of her people. The grift has remained guarded like a sacred ritual for the last 30+ years by Mitch McConnell and whoever is in his lair.