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🧵 In Today’s Edition
1. How a Children’s Book Became a Battleground in Summerfield
2. Around The State
3. What We’re Reading
Battle of the Books
When fifth-grade teacher Cindy Adams-Daniel picked a 32-page children’s book about penguins to include in bins at Summerfield Elementary School this past spring, she didn’t think too much of it.
“We got to choose the book we wanted to use,” she said. “It was an inspirational thing to bring diversity, to show different people in the school.”
The idea was simple: Each grade would have a bin of books chosen by a group of teachers for their classrooms. All of the grades had the same books, some of which were accompanied by a curriculum, and teachers had the flexibility to decide how to use them.
Adams-Daniel, who has taught in Guilford County Schools for two decades, chose a book portraying different kinds of families.
“Me being a gay teacher, I brought the book And Tango Makes Three,” she said. “We have a lot of gay parents, and I feel like we needed representation.”
In April, teachers presented their chosen literature to school staff, including the principal. Within two days, Adams-Daniel’s book had made news after the local Moms for Liberty group published a press release objecting to And Tango Makes Three.
“Moms for Liberty had gotten a hold of it somehow,” Adams-Daniel said. “They were saying we were pushing this gay book. I don’t know how they found out about it. It had to be someone inside the staff.”
The next month, Summerfield’s principal pulled And Tango Makes Three from the kindergarten through fourth-grade bins. Teachers, including Adams-Daniel, as well as several Summerfield parents, pushed back, citing concerns about bans targeting LGBTQ+ characters and diverse stories.
Now, months later, the book is back in the fourth-grade bin. But many of Summerfield’s parents and educators still have questions about why it was pulled in the first place, especially as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives (DEI) are increasingly being challenged by national and local conservative groups like Moms for Liberty.
“I feel like Summerfield is Ground Zero of banning books,” Adams-Daniel said. “I think we’re being made an example of by other people, and that makes me feel horrible.”
Read the full story here.
— Sayaka Matsuoka
Thanks for reading The Thread, a 3x week newsletter written by Greensboro editor Joe Killian and reporters Sayaka Matsuoka and Gale Melcher. Reach us with tips or ideas at greensboro@theassemblync.com.
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Around The State
Avast! Blackbeard Videographer Continues Suit Against N.C.
Rick Allen says the state illegally copied his work without permission or payment. More than a decade later, the Fayetteville man is still trying to get paid.
Federal Agents Come to the Triangle. Here’s What We Know.
Officials said Border Patrol agents were in Raleigh Tuesday, and immigrant advocacy groups say they may appear in surrounding areas.
UNC-Chapel Hill Trustees Vote to Raise In-State Tuition After All
The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees narrowly voted to raise in-state undergraduate tuition by 3 percent, or $211, for next academic year—a complete about-face from the day before, when a board committee appeared to kill the plan.
What We’re Reading
Triad Braces: Federal immigration authorities have expanded an aggressive enforcement push in North Carolina from Charlotte to Raleigh, arresting more than 200 people and accosting legal citizens. Triad residents fear they are next, reports WFDD.
False Alarm: Rumors tore through social media in Greensboro and beyond Tuesday as a viral video spread of armed law enforcement officers outside the Lowe’s Home Improvement store on East Cone Boulevard. Many speculated the video showed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or U.S. Customs Enforcement agents targeting immigrants. In fact, it was the Guilford County Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team responding to an ongoing narcotics investigation, the News & Record reports.
Split Vote: The Guilford County Board of Elections adopted an early voting plan Tuesday in a 3-2 party line vote. The board’s Republican majority approved a plan with no sites at UNCG or N.C. A&T. A large number of college students, who were not allowed to speak at the meeting, held signs and wore tape across their mouths in protest. The state board of elections will have the final vote on the early voting plan for the 2026 primary, the News & Record reports.
