Live from Music Row Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Laurie Cardoza-Moore from Proclaiming Justice to the Nations to the newsmakers line to discuss and celebrate that PJTN has been relieved of their hate status from the Southern Poverty Law Center after five years turmoil.
Leahy: We are joined on our newsmaker line now by our good friend Laurie Cardoza-Moore. She’s the founder and president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations. This is a group that educates, advocates, and moves to activate Christians, Jews, and all people of conscience in building a global community of action and prayer. In support of Jews and Israel Laurie, welcome back. You have some news for us. Good morning.
Moore: Good morning Michael. Great to be back.
Leahy: Well, apparently the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center in my view, a very vile nasty negative group that goes around smearing groups, has taken back some things that they’ve said about Proclaiming Justice to the Nations.
Moore: Yes, Michael, finally. And this has been an issue that we really have been trying to address for several years. But it’s been over the last year that we finally got some traction and we finally got an audience with them through our legal team to discuss the accusations formed against PJTN that are not based in fact at all. In fact, it’s really appalling that they would even say what they did say about the organization because we have been involved for almost 20 years in fighting the oldest hatred, and that’s anti-Semitism.
I had served as you know on the United Nations World Council of Independent Christian Churches. I have participated in two conferences with Muslim women who came to the UN to ask Western women to assist them in obtaining their freedoms in their countries. So across the board as well as Christians and their rights.
So no, this was falsely attributed to us. It has cost us. We have been blacklisted by Amazon Prime. They’ve removed us from their list. We’ve lost opportunities to serve in other capacities for appointments like the school board in Williamson County. There are numerous things that have happened to us as a result of this designation.
And we finally after evaluating our activity admitted that we’re not a hate group and they are removing us from the list. And the list gets updated. Just so you know, Michael the list gets updated at the end of January every year. They review all the organizations. They reviewed ours. And the hate designation is coming off finally.
Leahy: So when did they first call you incorrectly a hate group? How do they become the arbiter of what is and what is not hate?
Moore: Well, they think they are. They think they know they’re the experts. And of course, this has been going on for almost five years now.
Leahy: So five years ago they put you on this list?
Moore: That is correct.
Leahy: And what was their reasoning? Is it because you exercise freedom of speech and you supported Israel? Is that basically it?
Moore: Well, it’s interesting because a couple of years ago the Jewish community had the SPLC former founder came and spoke to the community and I was there. And one of our supporters in the audience from the Jewish community asked why PJTN was designated on a hit list as being a hate group. And the gentleman pulled up a piece of paper off of his table and he said we have a long list of things. He refused to say what those things were and when somebody challenged him to debate me right there and then that evening he said no, that’s for another program. I was ready and willing because they have misrepresented our organization and our mission.
Leahy: It’s a common tale with those groups and other groups on the left to misrepresent what conservatives stand for. We hear it all the time. And when we come back Laurie, we want to talk not only about what this means for your group going forward but also the other battles you’re engaged in with the textbook commission here in the state of Tennessee.
(Commercial break)
Leahy: Laurie, what does it mean for your group that at the end of this month coming you are off the Southern Poverty Law Center hate group list?
Moore: Even though we’ve lost some support and appointments Michael most people and all of our supporters around the globe because yes, we have chapters in other countries as well, but most people around the world understand that what we were accused of was not true. It was factually inaccurate and so it hasn’t affected us.
In fact, I have been working with state legislators across the country with regards to textbooks and reviewing textbooks and what’s happening in education, especially with civics and Holocaust studies. That’s been our primary focus, but it really hasn’t affected us. In fact, it’s really helped us because people like you and I who are concerned about the misrepresentation and the lives and the smears against legitimate organizations, like PJTN we get it.
We know we’re going to be the target, the bullseye that they’re going to try to remove and discredit. And I have to tell you I so appreciate our Speaker Cameron Sexton for having the leadership to appoint me to represent the citizens and the parents across this state on that textbook commission. And this is an extremely important role for me to play right now, especially in light of what is happening to our country.
Our children are not being properly educated. We’re using propaganda to educate our children now, especially as it relates to civics. We’re omitting important parts of the Jewish community and their role that they played in helping to establish our Judeo-Christian nation. So I am so grateful to the Speaker to take the initiative to appoint me for this position. And now it’s time for us.
I’m going to be sitting on that commission not as the president of PJTN but as a citizen of this state. And I am calling to action as well the citizens that almost a decade ago when we found that anti-Semitic textbook as we dug deeper in Williamson County mind you. As we dug deeper, we found that the textbook was anti-American, anti-Judeo Christian values, anti-history, and pro-China. This content was being peddled to our children.
And I said almost a decade ago. If we do not remove these textbooks, this curriculum from our children’s schools and Common Core our children are going to turn against this country because they’re being indoctrinated and fed lies about our history. And look at what has happened Michael. Look at this last year. We have had young people who have torn down monuments. That have murdered police officers and innocent citizens. They have attacked people.
Beaten people up. Elderly people in the street. This is all gone on in our country and our local government stood by in Portland, in Seattle, and Kenosha and allowed this chaos to erupt. And they didn’t stop it. If we don’t change the direction of education, we have to get rid of Common Core, Governor Lee said he was going to get rid of Common Core when he came into office and it was supposed to be gone by the end of 2019. The end of summer he said. It’s still here.
Leahy: Let me ask you a question about this Laurie. When does it meet next?
Moore: Well, we are waiting to get the final dates. We’re all going through the process of being briefed on how to go through this. So we still got one more meeting coming up this coming Thursday and then we will wait to see. It shouldn’t be too much longer after that. And of course, I will have to go through the commission hearing process with the House and the Senate education committees. So that will be coming up as well. So I expect within the next couple of weeks. But again Michael we’re going to need citizens because the of this state and the parents of this state have an opportunity as well to sit in and review these instructional materials in the textbooks.
Leahy: What is the purpose of that meeting when you’re meeting with the education committees of the Tennessee General Assembly?
Moore: Well, basically our role is to prepare and recommend a list of textbooks for approval. And of course, it will be used in all the public schools across the state. And of course, we will be involved in the bidding and contracting process of the textbooks and the publishing companies. We will also oversee the review of programs and the bid process for them. So it’s very detailed. We are going to be focused on ELA standards this year.
Leahy: ELA meaning English language arts.
Moore: English language arts, yes.
Leahy: So you’re not hitting Civics and history this year right?
Moore: Well, not yet. I have recommended to several state legislators to follow the lead of other states like Florida to review our civic standards in an emergency session. To call and review the civic standard to make sure that we are not misrepresenting this country to our children in our classrooms.
Leahy: My sense of that Laurie and I’d like to get your reaction right now. You know we do this Constitution Bee and we go to the public schools all the time. And my sense is in our interaction is here even in Tennessee the majority of public schools are actually now promoting an anti-American view of the world. That’s my sense of it. Would you agree with that?
Moore: Absolutely. You are spot on Michael. And that’s why we have the chaos that’s erupting. And that has to change. Our legislature has to take action to review the civics. Look at what just happened with President Biden with just revoking the executive order by President Trump for the 1776 Report.
Leahy: This is basically the American standard history and they’re replacing it with a version of The 1619 Project. America’s bad and has been racist from the beginning. That’s what they’re replacing it with.
Moore: Michael the problem with that is that information is The 1619 Project is factually and historically inaccurate.
Leahy: Oh come on now Laurie. Little things like factual inaccuracy, why should that matter? (Chuckles)
Moore: Well, we have a responsibility and a duty as citizens of the United States of America to pass the baton Michael to the next generation of this constitutional Republic.
Leahy: Are we doing that now? Are we doing that?
Moore: No, we’re not doing it. No. That’s why we’re a mess. And that has to change. and it’s not going to change Michael until We the People contact our elected officials and say look we’re watching you. We’re paying attention to your decisions. We cannot use respected historians called out The 1619 Project content and The New York Times admitted it. Okay, it’s not right. It’s not true. It’s not historically accurate. But that wasn’t our intention.
Leahy: I just saw that the new Deputy Secretary of Education nominated by Joe Biden comes from San Diego. He’s been a big big supporter of The 1619 Project in the claims of systemic racism throughout America’s founding in history. Now, they’re going to be sending requirements to the state government here. How do you think our state ought to react to that?
Moore: The state should reject anything that comes from anyone that is historically and factually inaccurate. We should not be approving content that fills our children’s minds with lies and disinformation. This will destroy our country. Look at our country! And until we reverse the course and start making sure that the curriculum that we use, the textbooks, the instructional materials, and the supplemental materials that are being used to teach our children are actually accurate, unbiased, and reflect the values of our community we will not be able to restore this Republic.
Listen to the full second hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Laurie Cardoza-Moore” by Proclaiming Justice to the Nations.
