NJEA Accused of Censorship After NJ GOP ‘Parody’ Video Takedown
A state lawmaker says New Jersey’s largest teachers’ union forcing the removal of a parody video only reinforces that they “will stop at nothing to censor dissenting opinions.”
Republican Assembly Leader John DiMaio of Warren County has slammed the New Jersey Education Association for asking YouTube to remove a 15-second video, released by his office, alleging a violation of law author.
It used most of the same footage as a recent 15-second NJEA ad that sparked a firestorm of protest from conservative lawmakers, for saying in part “People who want to fight to score political points should take that somewhere else.”
“Instead of being willing to have a conversation, they prefer to completely shut down people who are worried or disagree,” DiMaio said in a written statement.
The Republican House of Assembly parody ad – which had a different voiceover and replaced three black-and-white images with other school footage – was posted to YouTube on Wednesday and removed the following day.
NJEA (via Youtube)
“We don’t agree on everything in New Jersey,” the NJEA ad reads, starting with a split-screen Taylor pork and ham roll. “But we all agree that our children deserve a world-class education.”
“So when extremists start attacking our schools, that’s not who we are,” the NJEA spot says, with on-screen headlines from NJ.com and Patch reading “Some NJ Schools Under Siege and “Don’t Say Gay Bill Introduced by NJ State Senator.
The GOP-created response, dubbed “If the NJEA was honest in its ads,” begins with the same Taylor pork/ham roll photo.
A female voice says “We don’t agree on everything in New Jersey, but we should all agree that your children belong to us.”
“So stop resisting our agenda and accept that you have no control over your children’s education,” the GOP office video continues. “To all radical extremist parents, step back. We are the NJEA.”
The spot ends with the NJEA logo onscreen – it was removed from YouTube due to the copyright claim but was still on Vimeo, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok on Friday.
“That’s why parents are so furious. The NJEA applies controversial policies and ideology to our children and when there is a backlash, they bring the police out of censorship,” DiMaio said.
Student households can ‘opt out’ of controversial classes under the state’s updated education standards for public health, including sex education and gender identity – but Republican leaders have said that was not enough.
On Friday, a Georgia man interviewed by Fox News said the NJEA ad used a photo of him taken at a 2021 public school reunion in Cherokee County, Georgia.
The image was taken by a photographer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The man said the photo of him standing in a crowd, pointing at a meeting focused on critical race theory was used by the NJEA “out of context,” according to the Fox News report.
A request from New Jersey 101.5 to the NJEA received no immediate response as to how it selected the three images of people in the ad, seen standing and shouting at public meetings.
NJEA Commercial FINAL.mp4 by NJ Assembly GOP on Vimeo.
Erin Vogt is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach her at erin.vogt@townsquaremedia.com
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Models show what would happen during an air detonation, meaning the bomb would be detonated into the sky, causing extensive damage to structures and people below; or what would happen in a detonation on the ground, which would have the alarming result of nuclear fallout. The models do not take into account the number of casualties that would result from the fallout.
Beautiful Sunflower Fields to Visit in New Jersey 2022
Among the reasons why the “Garden State” remains an apt nickname for New Jersey – the end of summer means the arrival of sunflower season.
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