A common tactic of Christian Nationalists is to lob inflammatory, untrue charges against people who are doing things they dislike. This irresponsible behavior can have serious consequences.
Amanda Jones, a middle school librarian in Watson, La., details what happened to her after Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and others started demonizing librarians. Religious extremists asserted, among other things, that librarians were giving pornography to children. Landry, as attorney general in 2022, went so far to set up a special hotline for residents to report “pornographic” books in libraries.
It was an absurd charge that Landry and Christian Nationalists failed to back up with any evidence, but it had an effect. Some people in Watson began clamoring for censorship at the public library.
When Jones spoke out against efforts to censor books in Watson’s public library, the reaction was swift. She opened her email one morning to find a message reading, “Amanda, you are indoctrinating our children with perversion + pedophilia grooming. Your evil agenda is getting print + national coverage. Congrats. Continue with your LGBT agenda on our children cause we gunna put ur fat evil commie PEDO azz in the dirt very soon bitch. You can’t hide. We know where you work + live…you have a LARGE target on your back.”
Jones endured a barrage of attacks on social media, many led by a group called Citizens for a New Louisiana, which Jones describes as an organization “that has wreaked havoc on public libraries across Louisiana.” The group posted a photo of Jones with a target around her head, claiming it was just a circle.
Jones didn’t back down. In her new book, That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning In America, she writes, “I decided to take matters into my own hands and reclaim my reputation. I filed police reports, hired an attorney, and started the process of taking back my life. The messages of support started rolling in by the hundreds. People messaged me on social media and emailed. Strangers, former students, related how they were dealing with similar situations in their own towns.”
Watson is lucky to have a fighter like Jones. It would have been easy for her to step away, especially in the face of death threats. She chose another route. But she can’t do it alone. Jones and all the school and public librarians out there are facing vicious harassment from Christian Nationalists, attacks that are clearly designed to drive them out of their professions.
They need to know that those of us who support the right to read and learn have their backs.
