A group that decries the “violent effects of US border policy” and downplays illegal immigration will be bringing an exhibit on migration to over a dozen libraries across America in the coming months as illegal immigrants continue to pour across the southern border.
Sponsored by the American Library Association, the largest nonprofit trade organization for libraries run by a self-described “lesbian Marxist,” 15 libraries from California to New Jersey, will be hosting an exhibition called “World on the Move: 250,000 Years of Human Migration.”
The “Word on the Move” project, which has the stated goal of shaping public discussions on migration, says that national borders are a new development and promotes resources that aim to dismantle U.S. border policy.
“Popular discussions about modern-day migration often focus on issues of undocumented migration, but the fact is that human migration has been going on for millennia, while the idea that official documentation is required is at most a few hundred years old,” the project says. “And yet, while national borders are a comparatively recent invention, border policies are real and have real effects on the lives of migrants, as well as the lives of citizens on either side of the border.”
The project also says that people need to be taught to not think like a state and to think more about the anecdotes of people crossing borders.
“These global perspectives are useful, but anthropologists understand that it is important to also learn how not to think like a state, telling instead the personal stories of people who live near or move across the border and the effects of border policy on their lives,” the project says.
“Anthropologists have identified double standards in immigration policy by comparing the experience of Ukrainian war refugees to those from the Middle East and Africa, and they have studied objects found in the Sonoran Desert to understand the violent effects of US border policy,” the project adds. “Stories like these tell the human side of government actions.”
The reference to the violence and American border story links to an article that says that policies to deter people from illegally crossing into the United States through urban areas pushes them to attempt to cross in more dangerous rural areas.
The exhibition will be featured in libraries in California, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin. Several of the hosting libraries, including Calcasieu Parish Public Library, St Mary’s County Library, K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library, Blount County Public Library, Amarillo Public Library, Weber County Library, and Lester Public Library are located in conservative areas.
The exhibit that will be at libraries will encourage a focus on “climate change” and says that the 2016 vote by the British to leave the European Union was motivated by dislike of immigrants.
”British resistance to ‘welcoming migrants’ was a strong motivation for the ‘Leave’ campaign supporting the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union,” the exhibit says. The exhibit will be on display in five-week increments at each selected library from March 2023 until August 2025.
The exhibit guide also suggests that viewers pretend to be cultural anthropologists, and features bizarre artwork of a blue-haired cultural anthropologist who appears to be pregnant while conducting an interview.
A blue-haired anthropologist featured in the exhibit.
The project, which was first highlighted by a conservative media outlet in Tennessee, says that requiring documentation to immigrate is a recent invention, appearing to downplay the waves of illegal immigration that Western nations have faced in recent decades.
”Much is made of ‘illegal’ or ‘undocumented’ immigrants, for example, but the very idea that migrants ought to have official documentation is itself a recent invention,” the project says. “By presenting case studies from throughout human history and from the world, ‘World on the Move’ helps visitors distinguish what is really new about contemporary migration from what has remained constant over many tens of thousands of years.”
The American Library Association has previously been criticized over its Left-leaning tilt as it has wielded its influence against efforts to ban sexually explicit content from school libraries and to recommend dozens of LGBT books for minors. The American Library Association is headed up by Emily Drabinski, who previously described herself as a “Marxist lesbian” in a post on X.
“I just cannot believe that a Marxist lesbian who believes that collective power is possible to build and can be wielded for a better world is the president-elect of @ALALibrary,” Drabinski wrote in an April 2022 post. “I am so excited for what we will do together. Solidarity! And my mom is SO PROUD. I love you mom.”
In response to her leadership, conservative led states including Alabama, Wyoming, Missouri, Texas and Florida all cut ties with association. Republican Senators have also spoken out against the American Library Association because of its backing of drag queen story hours at libraries while reportedly restricting conservative events.