Daily Salinas, a mother in the Miami-area whose complaint about “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman got it successfully restricted in an elementary school, confessed
she did not read the piece she objected to in its entirety. According to Salinas, the poem “is not educational and have indirectly [sic] hate messages.” Gorman’s work, which was performed at President Biden’s Inauguration in 2021, wasn’t the only thing Salinas complained about.
According to the
Florida Freedom to Read Project, Salinas—whose two children attend The Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes—also came for “The ABCs of Black History,” “Cuban Kids,” “Countries in the News: Cuba,” and “Love to Langston” for including “references of critical race theory,” “indirect hate messages” and “gender ideology and indoctrination.”
In an
interview, Salinas tried to justify her ignorance of the material. “I’m not an expert,” she said. “I’m not a reader. I’m not a book person. I’m a mom involved in my children’s education.” In addition to being admittedly dense, Salinas has also promoted antisemitism on social media and attended rallies featuring members of the Proud Boys.
Even though she has Cuban heritage, the Florida parent used thinly veiled bigotry as an excuse to further oppress other marginalized groups. Sadly, the fact that she stripped her claims of any validity by not reading the material didn’t phase her in the least. The same can be said of Emily Conklin, another Florida parent who complained about the Disney film “Ruby Bridges” being shown in her child’s classroom because she believed it teaches that white people hate Black people.