Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin clearly thought a tip line (read: snitch line) that would allow conservative parents to rat out educators accused of teaching critical race theory would go over well. In light of recent news, I have to agree.
After Youngkin on Monday announced a new email address for parents to send in their complaints, zealous Gen Zers on TikTok banded together with a plot to flood the inbox with trolling emails. The result was glorious. The advocacy group Gen-Z for Change created a website that allows users — in just a few clicks — to send prewritten emails containing song lyrics to Youngkin’s tip line.
I know you’re very, very busy and don’t have time for such tomfoolery. In fact, I bet you’re going to scroll right past the link that takes you to this wonderful website — I don’t even know why I’m sharing it here. Of course, for the sake of journalism, I did investigate. Here are just a couple emails you’re able to generate.
Did the governor know Saucy Santana is taking over the curriculum? He does now.
Was he aware Virginia schools are allegedly teaching Flo Rida’s “Low” in class? I’m certain he is now.
“I’m indescribably angry with right-wing pundits trying to stoke nonexistent division while the U.S. is actively being labeled a backsliding democracy,” Sofia Ongele, the creator of the website, told Insider. “Seeing that Glenn Youngkin was trying to vilify educators, I thought I would do everyone a favor and take that tip line down.”
Youngkin’s team doesn’t seem eager to play along. Here’s a tweet from his press secretary.
This is misinformation. The gov’s office set up helpeducation@governor.virginia.gov as a resource for parents, teachers, & students to relay questions/concerns. Youngkin was elected to serve all Virginians & has utilized a customary constituent service to hear from Virginians. https://t.co/Ofl46Ow8bI
— Macaulay Porter (@macaulayporter) January 26, 2022
In response to any angst from the governor’s office, a spokesperson from Gen-Z for Change issued statement to The Washington Examiner:
If Governor Youngkin is worried that his tactics to distract from his poor handling of the pandemic are being disrupted by the collective effort of a bunch of kids who think racism is bad, he should feel free to contact us at our tip line: cryaboutit@genzforchange.org. Then again, we appreciate Governor Youngkin sticking to email — it would have been a real pain to lick this many envelopes.
Youngkin ran a campaign that sought support from white parents in Virginia by playing to their outrage over school lesson plans about inequality. But many Gen Zers don’t share that warped view of the world, and Youngkin is quickly learning they have a variety of ways to make that known.
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Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.