No, I’m Not Trying to Ban Books; The Devil Works Hard but the Political Rumor Mill Works Harder

We live in a highly polarized society, where our main media sources feed us a constant diet of reductive, binary arguments designed to foment outrage. I wrote about it during the campaign here.

Despite the fact that I am neither a Democrat nor Republican, I have earned the ire and full weight of attacks from the Democratic party in California due to my public criticism of policies that harm my family. The party is heavily involved in our local elections despite the fact that they are supposed to be non-partisan. For example, our Democrat assemblyman, senator and congressman paid for candidates’ mailers in the school board campaign, and the local Democrat party published harmful misinformation about me (until I demanded that it be taken down).

Despite my efforts throughout and after the campaign, there are still some who believe the harmful and false statements about me. A dear friend of mine reached out the other night to ask me why I want to ban books about black history in our school district. After I collected my jaw from the floor, I explained to her that I want to do no such thing, and have never said anything remotely suggesting that I would. In fact, during the League of Women Voters debate I said the exact opposite, unequivocally stating that the idea of banning books is “insane.” Nonetheless, a local mom casually told her that I am trying to ban books. I am grateful that my friend called me and gave me the opportunity to talk about it.

I am excited and relieved to have won my election, because I can now act on the promises I made to our community. And as I said during my first meeting, now I can show you that I’m not a monster, contrary to the fear-mongering. I ran to fix the problems that my children and I have experienced, to give kids a voice on the Board, to increase transparency and to improve our community. It’s all still here on my website – www.hamill4pv.com/issues.

I have no partisan motivation, and I sacrificed a lot to get here. I’m not asking for pity, but I am asking you to think critically when you hear rumors, and about the harm caused by spreading them. The issues in our district are nuanced and we are not well-served by falling for and repeating reductive, binary nonsense that comes from talking heads on CNN and Fox. I have an open-door policy and I am always willing to talk to any constituent about any issue. Please reach out to me if you have questions, concerns, or ideas about how to improve our district: Hamillj@pvpusd.net.

Every one of the women serving on our school board brings valuable and unique experience, knowledge and perspective. We are working well together and making great strides to improve the district. I welcome your criticism so long as it’s based on what I’ve actually said and done, and not what you’ve imagined or heard from the rumor mill.

Thanks for reading!