discriminate against white and ian american applicants. president biden will be discussing affirmative action. we will bring you his remarks starting at 12:30 p.m. eastern time. tomorrow, the supreme court is expected to woo on to be of cases regarding the student loan program. but civil liberties attorneys and policy experts. watch live at 4:30 p.m. on c-span. or you can watch it online at c-span.org. quest c-span has your unfiltered view of government. quacks this syndrome is extremely rare.

when you are connected, you're not alone. quacks supportinc-span as a public service along with other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. host: we want to welcome the president of the people for the american way. a former mayor of new york. what is people for the american way app what are your goals the app guest: we are a 40 -- goals the app -- goals? guest: we are a 45-year-old organization. host: how are you funded app -- funded? guest: there are a few large

foundations. it is a lot of fun for me. norman -- there are a lot of old hollywood types. it is a lot of fun for kids from a small town to meet these celebrities. host: the entire mission of civil rights through this issue of tanning books. guest: it is about freedom for us. the freedom to vote, the freedom to feel safe is foundational, but also the freedom to learn. you can do that in libraries and schools. it is so important.

our founder is passionate about this. a group of seniors went to make sure that their grandchildren are able to ask. that is what will make us competitive on the world stage. people who are able to stand up against authoritarianism and fascism. before he became a television icon, he went to war at 18 years old. three dozen or four dozen. he came home to find people saying he was not patriotic because he was progressive. he thought, if the people who believe -- they just laughed a civic education.

we have always five for gray civics being taught in our school. host: what is the status of censorship and book banning across the country lack of -- country? guest: not only have they double this year, but with twice as many books taken out of libraries this year, that means this year, there is actually the highest number of banned books on record. some of the books are famous that we know. to kill a mockingbird, catcher in the rye, a graphic novel about the holocaust.

some books that we have not heard of. host: a little bit more abo those numbers they found 1000 400 instances of indidl books and. you nd. what is your group doing to counter this app -- counter this? guest: they can advocate in their local communities. we think school boards are where most of the tension is going to be resolved. we want to make sure that they have access. it is also the state level. from missouri to arkansas and in

between. states are now defunding public libraries. they are frustrated that they cannot ban more books faster and are trying to the power of the purse to remove them from public libraries and put them into submission. we are training then and how to run for office and supporting them when they put their name on the ballot. host: these are billsting libraries. as of june toodify -- modify definitions that are hafuto minors and limiting access to library databases.

quest and arkansas, libraries must -- guest: in books that are claimed to be seen. we have to remove. we can train a cohort of x to secure information -- cohorts to secure information. they should not have the right to dictate to the rest of us.

it is dangerous to dictate what is available to others. host: they are organizing this weekend in philadelphia. around 120,000 people in 45 states. they will hear from republican candidates this weekend. they are all going to be talking before this group. what are you doing daca guest: -- what will you be doing? guest: we are not going to commence ron desantis or donald trump. we just want to make sure that americans know why we stand for.

but it is what i feel to be a sinister agenda. what they are actually after -- it starts with pulling books from shelves, but it ends with the dismantling of public education. where the public school system will be torn apart. poor kids who cannot afford private school will be sent to the factory at 12 result. everyone else will be sent to a parochial or religious school and that is not in america that i want. we want to make sure that we pay attention. we want voters to decide for themselves if they want to vote for a candidate. host: we want our viewer is to join us. before we get to your calls,

let's listen to the cofounders. describing her organization's efforts. here is what she had to say. quacks we saw how broken the education system was and how the education system is being used to radically transform our country. our children are being taught that we are broken, that based on the color of their skin or the religion that they have that they would be different and not as equal as another child. there is no room for discrimination, so moms are rallying around the fact that they went every child to reach their full potential in the classroom. moms get together in chapters. meet once a month. they review the agenda of the school board and review

legislative bills and initiatives presented. by elected officials and they are paying attention to national politics. host: how do you respond? guest: is sounds good, right -- it sounds good, right? they review the agenda of the local station and then they storm these rooms. people have probably seen the footage on their local tv. they shout obscenities at any school board member they view as even mildly progressive. they harass people until they resign from office. they don't wait until elections. they try to get folks who are volunteering their time, they followed them around in grocery stores and heckle them. when the indiana chapter of moms for liberty quoted adolf hitler

sank -- saying something like "whoever controls the children controls the future." a local man asked for a moment of silence at his school board meeting to remember holocaust victims. local moms for liberty intentionally caught their way through the moment of silence -- coughed their way to the motor sense. -- the moment of silence. the fact that the cofounders are acolytes of ron desantis is not an accident. they run the operation from florida, it is not a decentralized grassroots organization. this is a right-wing arm of the ron desantis campaign. americans who might see the chapters popping up should know

that before they sign up. host: roy, independent. right -- roy? you have to mute your television. just listen and talk through that phone. caller: okay. host: go ahead. caller: i was going to ask mr. myrick if he books he is against banning are age-appropriate. it sounds like he is a progressive. i guess he wants third-graders reading and studying about gay sex and transsexual activities.

we are being bombarded with the media. i am wondering if it is only through -- your organization sounds like it is full of democratics. which ones is he looking to ban? guest: i am not looking to ban any books because i don't think any books is how you combat that information. more information and context is how you create a better and more informed america and how you create a cohort of children able to survive and thrive in the real-world. all children should access information that is age-appropriate. what is age-appropriate mean? that is different for each kid. all kids should be aware before they reach adulthood that there

is such a thing as gayness. there always has been. gayness, sexual orientation has to do with sexual acts. every kid should have a thorough education. why should? they have that helps them avoid trouble. it will help them avoid unwanted pregnancies, it will help them avoid abuse and predation. sexual education is a way in which young people discover what a human member or neighbor has been doing to them is actually assault. it helps them to find the words to report those folks who have been accountable and deliver missive country. what the right age is for the redbook is something that educators and families should work together to figure out.

but banning these books, and let's be clear, the fact they are being banned is not just those talking about sex. the preponderance of these books, real facts about race in this country, also about lgbtq people. the agenda here is not just to protect young people from information they are not ready for, it is to try to convince kids that people who are not like them are not normal. lgbtq communities should not have to go back in the closet. they should not have to pretend they don't exist. they should not have to pretend that their irritation is somehow dangerous. it is in every country through every period of time. if young people than that, they will be better equipped. host: marquez is in new jersey, democratic caller #is -- mark is

in new jersey, democratic. caller. caller: it is really refreshing to hear you. i also don't want to live in america where kids cannot get the proper knowledge. i have never had kids and that is fine, i pay some of the highest property taxes in the country and i am happy to do it because i don't want kids to be ignored. i don't want racist homophobic parents to decide what kids learn. that is a matter for educators who have masters degrees. let's get real. we need to improve public schools, but to try to get rid of them is sick. it is fascist. guest: i didn't hear a question but i appreciate the question. i agree with it. i have been blessed. normal leader -- our founder

is 101 and if my son lives to 101, it will be 2124. what kind of world will it be? on the east coast, you can see a haze. i grew up in the northeast, fires from canada and injured runner of. -- from canada were unheard of. what kind of world we are going to live in is not just up to him and me, it is up to those kids you are paying taxes for. by they going to be able to contribute to our world and make it a better place? yes. they can compete with kids from other countries to get into universities here in our country. if their education continues to be undermined, our future is at

stake. we want to have scientists and engineers, urban planners, the next power forward. if we are being outcompeted because we cannot agree on a set of facts on which we can raise our kids, our entire way of life is being undermined. that is not the american way. host: john is in new jersey, independent. caller: hi, greta. good morning, you do a fabulous job. your rundown on the issues is outstanding. i have a brother-in-law who is gay, wonderful guy. god made you the way you are. however, my issue and many people's issue, a principal is

pulling kids out of class to do a -- what age do you think we should start pulling kids out of class to worship maturation -- masturbation? what would normally be pornographic including men walking the street -- it is pornographic. he is not for this. this causes more lgbtq problems. at what age are you fine with the exposure of this to elementary kids? guest: i am not sure about the worship of masturbation, sounds like a short story titled.

at what point should it begin? some began in sixth grade, seventh grade. i think we have to be careful. your brother-in-law is as how god made him. i believe the same. that is to say, reading a book with gay characters or reading about how to gain his works -- gayness works is not about what makes somebody gay. if you are concerned there is a contagion effect, if they learned about it in seventh grade, are they going to become gay? note. . what is the point of education? to prepare our children for a future they have to live in. it is not by sheltering them from information that makes us uncomfortable. the world is full of uncomfortable facts.

i know you know this, most of the information our kids get about sex they will not first be hearing from a teacher. it is unfortunate but it is true. it was true for us on his phobos

host: which, in new jersey, you are next. good morning. caller: you are a great propagandist and spear of misinformation. folks -- books that are being banned in some of the state are attacking the first, second and third graders with graphic pictures, graphic words about sodomy and oral sex.