CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — As the County Citizens Defending Freedom conduct a workshop at their Flour Bluff office, Corpus Christi American Federation of Teachers president Dr. Nancy Vera organized an action, Saturday morning, calling their practices an attack on teachers and children.
"They're talking about banning all these books, you know, it's an intellectual type of attack," Dr. Vera explained. "They're pushing their personal agendas, even though they say they're pushing our agenda. Well, our agenda is the children and the safety of the children in the classroom, foremost."
Although CCDF was unwilling to comment to 3NEWS, nearby Rock City Church leader Marlene Villarreal was. She said she's not affiliated with CCDF, but opposes some of the books that her 20 grandchildren in Corpus Christi ISD have access to.
"We have school books that are available to our children in the public school libraries that are blatant pornography," Villarreal shared.
Villarreal said she's found at least 40 books in CCISD that she believes have content inappropriate for children. She said those books may even contribute to desensitizing them to sex.
"I'm not okay with them opening a book in the public school library, in an elementary school, and finding pornography. I don't know how anyone can be opposed to that, but that's why I'm here. That's why I'm supporting the removal of these books," Villarreal detailed. "It's not to control. It's not to be extreme. It's to protect the hearts and minds of children so they're not groomed."
Dr. Vera also said CCDF is teaching people to monitor teachers on social media, saying teachers are reaching out to her in fear and anger, afraid to speak out and asking her to be a voice for them against CCDF practices.
"We need to ensure that everyone is safe in the schools, that no one is going to bully or harass teachers, or educators, or anyone, and especially not our children," Dr. Vera added.
Both Dr. Vera and Villarreal said they want to hear from the other side and have a peaceful discussion about the best course of action.
The protest, Saturday, remained peaceful and Corpus Christi Police Department officers were there as a precautionary measure.
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