ARLINGTON, Virginia — A Pulitzer Prize-winning book frequently assigned for Advanced Placement English classes in high schools has become a key part of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe’s closing argument in a toss-up campaign.
“Yesterday, Glenn Youngkin released his closing argument of this campaign,” McAuliffe, who is seeking a second non-consecutive gubernatorial term, said at a Tuesday rally one week before the Nov. 2 election. “In it, he proposed an effort to ban books by Toni Morrison from Virginia schools.”
“One of America’s most famous authors, the winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the winner of the Nobel Prize,” McAuliffe continued, adding that Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin was being “divisive” and trying to ban books by black authors.
He was referencing an advertisement released Monday from Youngkin featuring Fairfax County resident Laura Murphy, who had fought in 2013 to have schools notify parents of explicit assigned material after her son was assigned the book.
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In the Youngkin ad, Murphy describes her son being assigned “some of the most explicit material you could imagine” that made lawmakers faces’ “turn bright red,” but did not mention what that content was, the book Beloved, or that her son was a high school senior at the time.
What’s it like to have Terry McAuliffe block you from having a say in your child’s education?
This mom knows – she lived through it. Watch her powerful story. #VAgov pic.twitter.com/u8EjmMQX0n
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) October 25, 2021
Other speakers at Tuesday’s rally also mentioned the book. Democratic Rep. Don Beyer at the event also said he bought a copy of Beloved to do a book report.
President Joe Biden also took the stage and took aim at Youngkin.
“He’s gone from banning a woman’s right to choose to banning books written by a Pulitzer Prize- and Nobel Prize-winning author, Toni Morrison,” Biden said. “This is a guy who doesn’t know much about anything.”
To drive the point home, McAuliffe’s campaign handed out copies of Morrison’s book to members of the press at the Tuesday rally, along with a bookmark that read, “Glenn Youngkin will ban books in Virginia schools.” Both hardcover and paperback copies were stored in a Barnes & Noble bag.
The McAuliffe campaign is passing out copies of Toni Morrison’s Beloved to press at this event with Biden pic.twitter.com/TnSjVwVrfX
— Emily Brooks (@emilybrooksnews) October 26, 2021
Youngkin, though, has never said he wants to ban Morrison’s book.
Years ago, Murphy advocated for legislation dubbed the “Beloved bill” that would have alerted parents when there was sexually explicit content in instructional materials. McAuliffe vetoed legislation while governor.
That veto came up during a September gubernatorial debate, and McAuliffe’s answer gave Youngkin, who has been focused on education issues and “woke” teachings in Virginia schools, a perfect soundbite to use in campaign ads against him.
“I’m not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decision,” McAuliffe said during the debate. “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”
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“You believe school systems should tell children what to do. I believe parents should be in charge of their kids’ education,” Youngkin said during the debate.
Now, McAuliffe is trying to turn the issue around on Youngkin, making it part of his core strategy to paint the former private equity firm executive and first-time candidate as a radical and ally of former President Donald Trump.
