As the only charter school in the state catering explicitly to LGBTQ students, Magic City Acceptance Academy in Homewood offers an alternative view on education and, apparently, on history itself despite Alabama's recent ban on "divisive concepts" and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion).
In a Facebook post last month, the Academy celebrated Ariel Aberg-Riger, author and creator of "American Redux," a two-day workshop offered exclusively to MCAA students to "draft their visual historical narratives for their end-of-semester collaborative zine."
According to the teacher guide provided by the book publisher, American Redux is "not your mama's history textbook."
"To be honest, it is probably not yours (or your students') either," the description stated. "...Everything about this history book challenges what we know to be true."
The publisher's note on the author and her book says, "Aberg-Riger's storytelling rejects linear, comprehensive, whitewashed histories which fill many traditional history books."
1819 News reviewed a copy of Aberg-Riger's book, which was checked out from the Young Adult section of a Jefferson County Public Library, where it was on display. While purporting to tell the story of America's history in 21 collections of images and quotes, the book gives an opinionated and editorialized view, demonizing the South, Christianity, and the nuclear family while making heroes of domestic terrorists and social justice warriors.
In the first chapter, "The Good Old Days," the author paints the majority of Southerners as being against the rights and protections of black Americans in the three decades following the Civil War. Saying, "White southerners did not respond well to these gains. They used sustained campaigns of RACIAL TERROR – black codes, the Ku Klux Klan, public spectacle lynchings – to ensure that the rights of black people had secured were in name only, and could not be exercised fully." Going on to vilify the United Daughters of the Confederacy. "A new white southern generation was coming of age, and it wanted vindication. The war had been lost, but its legacy could still be won."
In a chapter on immigration titled "A Nation of Immigrants," Aberg-Riger insinuates that the Holocaust was, in part, the fault of Americans who wanted clear immigration laws, courts and border protection. She said of the Johnson-Reed Act, "The act had powerful consequences beyond halting immigration. It was the act Adolf Hitler repeatedly referenced as a successful model of racial exclusion, and the act that barred millions of Jewish people from seeking refuge in the U.S. when his horrific vision came to pass."
In a chapter about the American Revolution, "Give Me Liberty," the author paints Samuel Adams as a "radical and agitator" who used stories "most likely greatly exaggerated" to "stoke resentment" against the British troops, saying, "He persuaded and prodded and propagandized via every medium at his disposal – speeches in town halls, discussions at taverns, articles in broadsides, leaflets, pamphlets, newspapers." The author decries what she called "Colonial mob violence" and ends the chapter defending the British.
"Contemporary historians agree there was never a plot to enslave the colonies," she wrote. "The colonists, however, did enslave black people. And would continue to do so for nearly one hundred more years."
Reading more like leftist propaganda, one chapter of the book includes an effort to paint those who choose to exercise their Second Amendment rights as pawns in the gun manufacturer's public relations campaign. She dubs the AR-15 "The perfect killing machine," incorrectly declaring it "the weapon of choice for mass shootings."
The Crime Research Center, which uses publicly available data, found that "Between January 1st, 1998, and December 16, 2024, 51.9% of attacks used solely handguns, and 17.3% used only rifles of any type—35.6% of attacks used solely rifles or rifles in conjunction with another type of gun."
The book presented to students also promotes the widely debunked idea of increased voter disenfranchisement for minorities through voter protection efforts and calls men who identify as women and illegal immigrants "marginalized." There are entire chapters devoted to Jerry Falwell and Christian conservative voters, as well as one on AmWay.
The book describes Hawaii's statehood as "imposed on Hawai'i by the U.S. government." It goes on to say that "Americans commodified Hawaiian culture and sold it for the profit and entertainment of non-natives - the word' aloha,' leis, the hula, luaus."
In the final chapter of the book "We the People," the author celebrates "The Young Lords," a Marxist socialist street gang with leaders and members allegedly responsible for violence, arson and drug trafficking, highlighting the "Massive impact on ongoing identity and activism" the domestic terrorist group had on the nation with youth as young as 15 active. The Young Lords have been reported as a precursor or model for the violent and destructive actions of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Aberg-Riger is listed as a "Queer and Trans Voice" available for speaking engagements like the one set up by MCAA. The description of the programs reads, "Working at the intersections of race, class, and identity, these authors explore the embodied experiences of queer people today."
Her book includes an inscription: "At a time when books that challenge whitewashed history are coming under fire from censors, this is a vitally important work that dares to tell the truth."
Apryl Marie Fogel is a Birmingham resident who frequently appears on and guest hosts radio programs around the state. She can be reached at aprylmarie.fogel@1819news.com or on X and Facebook at @aprylmarie.
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