Bucks County, USA

(footsteps walking) VANESSA: I remember, in second grade, I used to be obsessed with watching those YouTube videos that were, like, "Top Ten Most Haunted Dolls Ever."

(laughing): And I would, I was, like, "When I go to sleep tonight, I'm not waking up.

They're going to kill me in my sleep."

EVI: When, when I-- okay, when I was a kid, my mom would always take us to thrift stores, like, you know, to buy clothes, and there were so many creepy dolls there.

So I would, like, promise them, like, "Someday, I'll come back for you."

(both laugh) So I was freaked out, because I was, like, "Oh, my God, I have to buy these dolls or they're going to kill me."

Good.

Coming up there, girly pops.

HAMILTON (on speakers): ♪ I may not live to see our glory ♪ MEN: I may not live to see our glory.

HAMILTON: ♪ But I will gladly join the fight ♪ MEN: But I will gladly join the fight.

HAMILTON: ♪ And when our children tell our story ♪ MEN: And when our children tell our story... ♪ They'll tell the story of tonight ♪ EVI: They're such cutie-cutes, I love friendship!

Let's have another round tonight!

HAMILTON: ♪ Let's have another round tonight ♪ EVI: I love "Hamilton" with all my heart.

It's my favorite musical in the entire world.

It's a lot about legacy and, like, fighting for what you believe in.

VANESSA: I can see how it's really shaped her personality and I think it's just such a good musical to be inspired by.

(music continues) MEN: ♪ Telling the story of tonight ♪ EVI: Such bestie-westies.

HAMILTON: ♪ They'll tell the story of tonight ♪ EVI: America was nowhere near perfect, but some of those themes of, like, all men are created equal and, like, everyone's going to have a say... (laughing): They're so cutie-cute.

...it just seems so beautiful to me that we were able to, like, have, like, a revolution based on those ideals.

It's saying that, like, if we fight hard enough, we can make this country and, like, the whole world better for our children in the future.

I know for a fact that the passion, love, and willpower of the people in this room will prevail and we will change our school district for the better.

We need to flip the board-- it's that essential.

These are people's lives.

This is public education, this isn't a game.

This is pissing me off.

Yeah.

- (chuckles) DEARMOND: If the school board flips, new woke agenda put into place.

That means biological malls in the girls' bathroom, D.E.I., ideologies that are harming children brought into the school.

ADRIENNE: I'm not here fighting for a political party.

DONTE: Right.

I'm here fighting for my kids.

Right.

- I'm here fighting for... DONTE: Ourselves, yeah, us.

ADRIENNE: ...for us, for, for representation.

KITTY: Pennridge got so far out over their skis on Vermilion, like, really just heading hard, not down the middle, but to the right.

EVI: They don't want kids to learn about diversity and other walks of life, and they're just going to become hate, hateful, like their parents before them.

TIFFANY JUSTICE: We are going to fight like hell for this country, like joyful warriors, with a smile on our face, because our children are watching us.

And it is a privilege to fight for this country.

People have died fighting to defend our freedom and our liberty.

(audience applauding) BROCK: How do you want to spend your time and your life?

Do you want to spend it being afraid, or do you want to spend it advocating for things you, being involved in things you feel called to?

It is school board election season, which means we cannot let Paul Martino and his oligarch friends buy our schools and push extremist politics in our community.

KITTY: I have seen an unbelievable parade of dirty, underhanded tricks.

It's, like, this is a school board race, and these are good people.

A lot of people think that, you know, the vitriol's coming from the right, and particularly from, you know, me and my husband, right?

And it's, like, that's not the case.

We've been just shining a light on how much vitriol's been coming at us from the very extreme left for some time.

VANESSA: I do feel a little mad, but at the same time, I feel a little sorry for the people that are dedicating so much of their time to make us look bad.

You can't have a community where people are willing to say those things about each other.

♪ ♪ I'm Vanessa.

- And I'm Evi.

And this is the story of our town.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (gears shift) KITTY: I feel brave and I feel purposeful.

I choose to have faith in the power of showing up, of compassion and kindness and respect.

That's the process I'm going to have to trust.

Like, these are matters of the heart, and values, and you have to treat people as if they're connected to their issues, because they are.

Hello, hello, good to see you again.

Good to see you.

How are you?

- Very well.

How are you?

You got here first.

Yes.

- (grunts) I'm very prompt.

Thank you very much.

So, what else is going on?

How's, how's Central Bucks doing?

Well, you tell me.

- (laughs) Well, definitely interesting with my wife being one of the candidates this time, verse, you know, people who I didn't know very well being the candidates last time.

And, uh, some of the, some of the stuff that gets said and written, man, it, it's tough.

I wish people would address their tone.

I really do.

I think that it's, it's... You know, we all say it's divisive, but it's, like, it's worse than that.

It's sort of, it does lasting harm.

The pounding over and over, just the "bigot," "racist," horrible language, et cetera, stuff.

And, you know, this borders on defamation.

You know, someone was talking to me about the excessive use of the word "groomer."

I said the same thing.

I said, "That is a dangerous accusation to level.

"And when you willy-nilly call somebody a groomer, "you hurt people's names and reputations by doing it.

"You look like an idiot.

"And second, when there is an actual problem, "you've cried wolf so much that, that..." - Yes, yes, yes.

I completely agree with you, 100%.

The impression that he was eager to give is that his positions are much more nuanced than they have been reported, which I'm prepared to believe.

I think that nuance is lost in a lot of our debates.

In general-- and my experience is this-- when, when you really do usually sit down with someone, even if you disagree with them, usually some calmer heads... That doesn't happen online.

People actually get worse, dig in, and, and actually... Yeah.

- There is a subset of people that, that is completely unacceptable to even be engaged in a discussion, because you're somehow selling out to the enemy.

Like, that's not what I was taught.

Do you have an idea how to sort of salve the wounds and change it?

So, I feel like I am one of the leaders of, let's call it "the right" here.

I have yet to find the counterpart to have a discussion to set an example with on the other side.

(softly): Like, I don't have your money.

What, what's that?

I don't have your money.

The reason why you have this platform, at least in part, is because you have a high profile, because you can fund people's campaigns.

Yeah.

- I'm just... PAUL: The one area where we disagree a lot, though, is in regards to the, the running of negative ad campaigns.

I have been subject to tons of vitriol as the non-candidate.

And so, when I am the non-candidate getting that vitriol, I, I think it's completely reasonable to run negative ads against the actual candidates.

Like, so, in my opinion, the, the asymmetry of the warfare is already underway.

This is an area where we didn't see eye to eye at all.

(laughs) I'm not expecting us to see eye to eye on everything, but this is an example of an area where there was no common ground.

Unlike you, I would describe Josh... KITTY: I believe-- and I don't want to put any thoughts or words on him-- that he would like to see everybody step down, but he doesn't feel safe doing it unilaterally.

That he doesn't want to disarm unless the other side disarms.

And my message to him is: you can't broker a deal with the head of one side, because there is no such thing.

I don't think you can call a truce on other people's behalf.

Like, what I'm hoping is going to happen is that people are going to get really tired of the vitriol and decide it's not working and use better language.

(people talking in background) (music playing in background) ADRIENNE: We here in Bucks County, in the Central and Upper Bucks, we know the Black population is about two to three percent, right?

We don't see this often, right?

So we want to bring it together.

We want to celebrate.

We want to let everyone know we are here, right?

We live here.

(audience applauding) We have been residents in Bucks County for years, right?

And this is our home, and we shouldn't have to have... We've had people say, "I've never had a Black person in my home before-- you're the first."

"I've never had a conversation with a Black... You're the first."

So knowing that that's the community we live in, we really made an intentional effort to put ourselves out there, so that people could be, like, we don't bite.

(laughs): We don't bite.

We're, we're, we're just trying to raise our family.

We know that our students, our Black students, who are in that two to three percent, and sometimes only, the only brown or Black face in their classroom, right?

Some of our students endure a lot because of that, right?

Because of the lack of representation, because of the lack of understanding and empathy, because of what we... We had an incident where someone told, you know, the joke of, "What, you know, doesn't live in the jungle and eats bananas?"

(people talking in background) And it was our daughter, Brielle.

(music playing in background) DONTE: I was away for work, and, as I do when I travel, I FaceTime them before they go to bed, and she told that joke.

She said, "Daddy, I got a joke."

I'm, like, thinking she's going to tell me a silly dad joke, 'cause we always, you know, tell those cheesy jokes.

And when she told me that, my face went from... - His face changed.

...sheer delight to kind of see my child to... I don't even know-- anger's not the word, pain isn't the word.

I don't, I don't even know if there's a word in the English dictionary that can define how I felt and even what came through on my face.

All I know is, my daughter saw my face and just said, "Are you okay?"

♪ ♪ ADRIENNE: Girls, your breakfast is almost ready.

I remember the first time that I, I went as a community member to make a, a comment... DONTE: Mm-hmm.

ADRIENNE: ...at the school board meeting, and the first thing I said is, "When is the school district "going to start taking this seriously?

"When are you going to start taking seriously the fact that you have diversity in your community?"

You can't have a size 18.

- Put your head down.

CAMILLE: Oh, no.

- I think it's a 13?

CAMILLE: It's because it says 1856... ADRIENNE: Oh, that's not your size, your size is on... I felt like, when we were talking to them about what we were experiencing, that we were getting a very surface type of response, nothing with any depth, and really not a willingness to do anything that was outside of their comfort zone.

DONTE: Yeah, I'll text it to you.

ADRIENNE: And as I looked at the school board, I said, "Well, why would they?

They can't relate.

"They can't relate, and they have no one up there that can or that is even trying to."

I think she... And so my thought is, I'll run for school board and become a diverse voice.

DONTE: A change.

Where you got, that stuff got spilled on it?

ADRIENNE: Being a person that, I've never had a political aspiration a day in my life, I don't think I totally comprehended what I was about to embark on.

I remember being at one of the polling locations... DONTE: Mm.

- ...in this area, and I remember hearing a community member saying, "We don't want Black people taking over our schools."

(speaking indistinctly) MAY: So you ran for school board.

Did you win?

I did not.

I did not win.

No?

You got your cleats?

You got your sticks?

Got 'em.

DONTE: Goggles?

'Cause you can't really... DONTE: Okay, Brielle.

You ready, Brielle?

♪ Allow me to reintroduce myself ♪ BRIELLE: ♪ My name is Hov ♪ DONTE: ♪ My name is Bri ♪ ♪ K to the I to the N-G ♪ ♪ She got moves, oh, she coming up to unleash ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Me and my mom, we went door-knocking for the school board election, and it was kind of fun, like, being by her side while I met all these interesting people, but she told me that she brought me along sometimes just because people are less likely to yell at you if you have a kid, so... That's so true.

- (laughs) Yeah, I went door-knocking, too, I guess for the opposite side, though.

Um, uh... And I always had a lot of fun-- I love... We all know I love talking to strangers.

That's, like, my main passion in life.

(laughs) And I love talking about politics, so, combine the two, and I'm sold.

(laughing) And it's great.

But for anyone out there canvassing, it's important to stay safe and carry pepper spray.

(laughs) - Especially women.

Hi!

Hi.

My name's Aarati Martino, I'm running for school board.

And this is my daughter, Vanessa.

Hi.

- And so, I just, I just, I just came to see your neighborhood today.

I'm just curious, uh, I would love to earn your vote and see if you have any concerns.

We do cross-file in the primary.

So my opponent is on the Republican ballot and I'm on the Democrat ballot.

And then whoever wins each of those tickets then goes on to the general in, in November.

I'm a software engineer, I love to build and fix things.

- Yes.

And I don't like getting involved in politics or any of this arguing, but I see this happening, and it's, like, I feel like I have to do something about it, because... I won the Republican nomination, but the other Republicans that ran, they actually got a higher percentage of the Republicans than I did, which is bad, because I'm, like, "Wow," you know?

I really thought I would've gotten a lot of Republicans.

I think one of the main reasons is the perception that the Martinos are all about, we're trying to own the school board and ban books and we don't like LGBTQ kids or something.

I mean, all this nonsense, it's not true at all.

We were all about... AARATI: I'm going to have to start being a lot more assertive of who I am, what I believe in, a lot of the myths about me, but, and it's uncomfortable, and I don't like to do it, but I think it's very important.

I'm going to have to fight.

Because if we don't, this place is not... I don't think this place is going to be as great as it used to be.

♪ ♪ RICK HARING: I'm Rick Haring, and I'm running for school board director against Aarati Martino.

(doorbell rings) Hello!

ADI: Hi.

Hey, are you Adi?

- Yeah.

"Ah-dee" or "Add-ee"?

(dog barking) Yeah-- yeah, yeah, I'm gonna close the door for the... - Oh, my God.

...prevent the dogs from coming.

Oh, can I see?

Are they friendly?

Oh, yeah, yeah, of course.

That's Wilson.

HARING: Hey, buddy.

For me, it's a little personal.

I grew up in a place in Northern Jersey, um... Wasn't the best upbringing.

My mom was a single mom, and Dad was an alcoholic, so, for me, school was not only about education and kind of piquing the intellectual curiosity, but also filling a gap.

Have you been following along what's going on?

Yeah.

- A bit?

(laughing) Yeah, a bit, a bit.

- Yeah?

I can say that I'm pretty mindful of what's going... - And what are the, what are the thoughts there?

I'm very concerned.

- Yeah.

When you look at what a public school should be, it should be a safe and inclusive and welcoming environment for all students.

And clearly that's not what's happening right now, and that's a little concerning for me.

So I'm looking to change that.

I'm just so, really, appalled... - Yeah.

...at the direction the school board is going.

HARING: Aarati has been presenting herself that she's this Stanford undergrad, M.I.T.

graduate, works at Google, has gotten all of these awards.

She can be one of the smartest people out there, but this is about finding the right person that should be on the board who is in it for the right reasons.

PAUL: The fact that this is even a fight between these two people is beyond me.

Aarati's academic credentials are impeccable.

In addition, she is a well-grounded, normal person.

Rick's a hothead whose wife has a settle, a, a score to settle with the district.

(people talking in background) Ms.

Cartee-Haring sued the school district for improper termination of her position as the lacrosse coach in 2019.

Her lawyer asked for damages of $750,000.

How do you ask for $750,000 when the position pays $5,000 to $8,000 a year?

What's that, 100 times the, the annual pay?

Oh, no!

Uh, Rick's a nice guy and his motives are pure, and that Aarati Martino, she's a dangerous person.

How many times has she sued the district?

What bad movie are we in where this is the case?

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (crickets chirping) HARING: I don't even know why I'm being accused as a bully.

There was an instance with a certain person who was coaching my daughter in middle school.

I sent an email, and all we were asking for was to really have a conversation about our daughter, about some of the treatment that she'd been, you know, receiving.

So, he's just lying, then-- it's ridiculous.

So did I send a couple of emails?

Yes.

Guilty as charged, but, you know, not, not in the, in the spirit of harassment or bullying.

CARTEE-HARING: He's creating this incredible negativity around us.

Yeah.

- He's casting us to be awful people.

- Right.

Character assassination.

Like, for a fricking school board.

That's the level that we're talking about.

Like, it's a lie.

It, like, it's just lies.

I sent Paul a note, and I said to him, like, "We, we live in this community.

At the end of the day, we still live here."

Like, we're obviously... - He lives right around the corner from us.

- And he lives around the corner.

- Like, I mean... We shop, we could shop at the same place.

I mean, not that he goes, probably goes to the grocery store.

- (chuckles) He probably has servants that do that, but... HARING: You know, I'm in marketing, and so it's, it's classic FUD advertising, right?

FUD is "fear, uncertainty, and doubt."

And that is exactly what he is trying to do in this community, is cast fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

DEARMOND: The advice I gave is, Paul needs to stop interfering... (chuckling) ...with the election.

And when I say "interfering," I mean just, just, just be quiet.

KITTY: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

DEARMOND: But I feel like he probably feels the need, like, this is his wife.

(sighs) So, I'm feeling very sickened and miserable about some of the stuff that I have seen.

Attacks leveled at some of the candidates.

You know, really personal, attacking their children.

I just don't think that's right.

(stammering): And it used to be, if you ran for school board, they almost... The struggle was actually to get people to know who you are.

- Yes.

And even know you exist.

And to come out and vote at all.

Yes, and to come out and vote at all, because those elections are the ones least attended.

I, I don't like that kind of attacking.

I don't, I don't... And I don't know what you're talking about.

Whether it's a candidate or whether it's people working behind the scenes-- do you know what I mean?

- Or spouses of the candidate?

- Um... Yes.

Paul Martino is very vocal about Rick Haring being a bully.

It's character assassination.

I wrote to Paul, privately, to ask him, "Please.

"This is just low.

"This is a low attack, and I believe that it is beneath you."

And I got... (mimics explosion) ...back from him.

That I don't know what I'm talking about and I must have bad faith.

I don't know anything.

- Yes.

This is all news to me.

And you don't need to defend.

- Yeah, right.

This is not your job.

- Right.

When you know someone personally, too... Yeah.

- ...it's very difficult to see them get attacked.

Um, I... - And so unjustly.

Yeah.

- So unfairly.

I think Paul's been unfairly attacked.

You know?

- I... That's not the point, though.

It's, like... If... - Yeah.

I know it's not the point in this situation.

I'm trying to understand, perhaps, the impetus here.

If anything, it makes it worse, because you know how it feels, and you know how unfair it is.

He shouldn't be doing it.

I, I sometimes think some people think you fight fire with fire.

STEVEN: I think there's a lot to be gained from having a conversation.

Instead of just, you know, attacking somebody on social media for holding one view or another, there's so much to be gained from discussion.

And I think the absence of this dialogue is what's contributing to the, to the divisiveness, to the polarization of viewpoints.

We've gotta find a middle ground.

♪ ♪ I'm Steven Belder and I am 16 years old.

Fifth and sixth grade is when I started to get involved in politics.

Then I took a conservative viewpoint on most things.

I would stay up nights on end watching Fox, watching Newsmax, and only seeing one perspective, one side of, of the argument, was really pushing me to verbalize everything that I heard.

I was oversharing my political views in environments that really didn't call for them.

People began alienating themselves from me.

I was beginning to lose friends.

(orchestra playing on record) Now I've come to a point where I'll turn on different news channels.

I'll read different articles by different, you know, publishing companies.

I can realize, "Okay, I agree with this.

I don't agree with that."

I think that what the environment is now, whether it's here in Bucks County, whether it's in America, whether it's in the world, you start seeing individuals internalize their views.

They... They've become the conservative.

They've become the liberal.

And that's the problem, because when arguments or debates or discussions occur, you start attacking the person instead of their views.

Between kids, there's more hope for solutions, but until adults realize this problem, it's going to be a struggle.

DEARMOND: So, for our next question, some of you have shared a little bit, but I wanted to hear some more about what you are observing in your community and what your thoughts are on it.

I think that kids kind of have the power in the way that sometimes adults don't, because you're kind of forced to collaborate.

Like, if you have a project in this class or you're doing a roundtable, like, seminar-style in another class, like, there's no escaping that.

And I think that maybe that's, maybe we should force adults to do, like, group projects or something.

(chuckling) FAITH: I feel like young people are often overlooked because they don't know what they're talking about, when really we're the ones living the experiences, and we're the ones living in their choices that they're making for us.

Well, I know that with my parents, they're really involved with school board, and we spend... When I get home from school, I just spend most of my time in my room, and I don't really talk to them until dinnertime, then we go out to dinner, and they spend five minutes, "Oh, how was your day?"

And then the rest of the time, it's just talking to each other about, "Oh, did you hear what happened on school board?"

(others murmuring) "Oh, he did that, he put his sign up in front of my sign."

"Oh, did you hear what they commented?"

It's just really aggressive.

Yeah.

I'm just sitting with that.

(others murmur) I remember saying to my parents that I just wished there was no such thing as politics.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

- It just, it was... It felt so wounding and sad.

DEARMOND: Yeah.

STEVEN: I think we see the regression in school boards because of how some of these people are getting elected through divisive politics.

DEARMOND: Yeah.

STEVEN: It's become about tearing down the other side, and slandering them, and destroying their reputations.

ROBIN: I think that a big factor that leads to a lot of the polarization is social media.

Like, social media plays a very important part in politics today-- there's no avoiding it.

But with that level of separation, where it's just, you're typing something onto a screen, it's very hard for you to see the other person's perspective.

EVI: I agree with that because, like, you're, like, anonymous, so it also, it's also, like, it allows people to say, like, really horrible things, like cyberbullying and stuff happens a lot.

I feel like it has a positive and a negative effect.

I mean, if you use social media to bash people and just keep on yelling at them, you're not making anything better.

LILY: I think it's also easier for misinformed opinions or false information to spread.

You know, I've faced a lot of harassment, a lot of, you know, discrimination about me being LGBTQ, about me being a trans woman, to the point where I felt that it was unsafe for me to even walk in the hallways.

I had to look behind me everywhere I went, because I didn't know who was going to be targeting me.

(insects chirping) I think what people have to be wary of is the hate that they're imbuing in their children.

(coffee maker churning) Last year, I got a large amount of attacks on social media.

♪ ♪ It wasn't only about me being trans, but also me being Jewish, too.

Like, a lot of, like, slurs, threats, um, death threats.

I've gotten comments about the Holocaust, comment, comments that, that I should be added to the statistic of trans people who kill themselves.

♪ ♪ BRETT: They used the veil of a computer to attack her using vicious, disgusting language.

MINDY: Like calling her a dirty Jew, a subhuman stain.

I mean, it was bad stuff.

I gotta make my bed.

BRETT: We subsequently learned through detective work that two of the perpetrators actually went to school with Lily.

One of them was traced to the computer of one of our township supervisors, who were running mates of several of the people on our school board.

LILY: I wish that my school district was more proactive about these behaviors.

Everything goes back to the education.

If people understand what it's like, the emotional pain that people like me go through, I think that'll make them think twice about posting one of these things.

♪ ♪ MINDY: What devastates me is that there are people in Bucks County that are spreading misinformation and flat-out lies about trans people.

BRETT: It's misinformation and spin.

MINDY: And it's just hurting so many people.

I mean, they don't know our story, they don't know anyone's story-- and why do they care?

(people talking in background) (music playing in background) ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, this is "Genesis 1:27."

Please welcome your host, Daily Caller News Foundation reporter Meg Brock.

Hi, I'm Meg Brock.

I'm a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.

I'm also, most importantly, a mother of two children.

So this panel is titled "Genesis 1:27."

If you're not familiar with the Bible, that's the verse that says God created two sexes, men and women.

WOMAN: Yeah!

There's no third option listed there.

(audience applauds) Adolescents aren't exactly known for their wonderful decision making.

You know, we don't let kids drink.

We don't let them rent a car till they're 25.

I mean, just even understanding the neurochemistry of the brain at that age, it's not really a time where you want someone to be making permanent physical decisions about their body.

Anyone care to tell me why we should be cutting the body parts off of children?

A lot of you probably don't even believe that's happening, right?

(people talking in background) Y'all got nothing.

BROCK: As adults, our job is to protect children, and I, I don't think that it's possible for a teenager to give informed consent about their fertility.

I just think that's crazy.

♪ ♪ NEWS ANCHOR: The fight over education is coming to Philadelphia's doorstep.

The conservative group Moms for Liberty will host its annual summit at the Downtown Marriott this weekend, and many protesters who call the group's agenda extremist are making their presence felt.

(chanting) REPORTER: Group leaders say their mission is to stop what they call woke ideology from getting into classrooms.

TINA DESCOVICH: We are actively taking part in our, in our political process the way it was set up to do.

REPORTER: The group calls itself a parents' rights organization and says their aim is to put parents in charge of their child's education, but they've also become a key cog in conservative politics and will host presidential contenders Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Nikki Haley on Friday.

REPORTER: Critics say their beliefs target certain groups, including people of color and members of the LGBTQ community.

BROCK: So my name's Meg.

(woman cheers) I live in Bucks County, about 35 minutes away.

(audience cheers and applauds) There is a mission to socially transition children, and it's happening in schools.

But you can go to your school district and find out.

Are they socially transitioning kids in my school?

And you know what?

You might save one child from going through that.

WOMAN: Yeah.

So if you can do that in your school, if everyone does that?

WOMAN: That's right.

Think of the difference that makes.

WOMAN: That's right.

(audience cheers and applauds) BROCK: Even though I'm not a member of Moms for Liberty, when I met these people, and I'm, like, "These are phenomenal people," and I see people, you know, maligning them, like, it, it pisses me off.

I don't think there's really any attempt to understand.

There's a huge attempt to slander, defame, and lie about people.

Hey.

BROCK: Hi, Vonna, how are you?

DEARMOND: How are you?

- Good, good to see you.

DEARMOND: It's good to see you.

BROCK: Thanks for coming.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Let's go this way.

- Okay.

BROCK: You're allowed to have an opinion.

Yeah.

- You're allowed to be a conservative.

(laughs) - Yes, yes.

Like, you're, it's not, I mean... And when people think about, when you think about how scary it is, though... - Mm-hmm.

...that they actually think people like myself, people like you, we're extremist.

- Mm-hmm.

Or we shouldn't be allowed to be... Like, we're, we're evil-- they actually... Evil, yeah.

- You know, I've seen that written.

- Yep.

What evil have you perpetrated?

- Mm.

What evil have I... What evil has Moms for Liberty actually done?

There has been no evil, there's been no hate.

All these things.

And it's, like, I know I was always just doing any of this to protect my own kids and to protect the kids around me.

DEARMOND: I don't know how kids can learn how to resolve conflict or talk with someone they disagree with when their adults are not doing the same thing.

Everybody's just doubling down on their side of things.

MAN: ♪ So I give you fair warning before we belay ♪ ALL: ♪ Way, hey, blow the man down ♪ MAN: ♪ Don't never take heed of what pretty girls say ♪ ALL: ♪ Give me some time to blow the man down ♪ ♪ Blow the man down, bully ♪ ♪ Blow the man down ♪ ♪ Way, hey, blow the man down ♪ ♪ Blow the man down, boys, from liberal town ♪ ♪ Oh, give me some time to blow the man down ♪ (all cheer and applaud) Huzzah!

WOMAN: Huzzah!

(applause continues) MAN: Thank you, Jonathan.

Huzzah!

EVI: We went to the Doylestown Historical Society and saw Benjamin Franklin talk about lesser-known facts about his life.

And he managed to revive himself just to talk to us.

- (laughs) It was pretty cool.

ROBERT DEVITIS: Every one of my ideas, every one of my inventions, they were all for the common good.

Everything.

Who started the first fire department?

WOMAN: You?

I actually did not.

First fire department was in Boston.

I started the first volunteer fire department.

Little trick there.

Not only was I myself was a volunteer, but so was George Washington.

He resided in Philly for a while, and later on, Thomas Jefferson.

VANESSA: Me and Evi both really love history.

EVI: When you have a good teacher, it just feels like that you're listening to stories all day.

VANESSA: Mm.

EVI: And that's my favorite.

VANESSA: One thing I really like is how topics we learned about in U.S.

history really tie back to events we're going through today.

DEVITIS: ...uneducated... VANESSA: I think people are going through some very strong emotions right now, and it can be really hard to process them and... (clears throat) ...express them in a constructive manner.

So they had these meetings about the Constitution: what to have in it, what type of government.

And there were all these arguments.

And they said, "Well, let's put something together and see what Mr.

Franklin has to say about it."

This is what I said: "Gentlemen, there are many things "in this document "that even I disagree with, "but I'm willing to put my disagreements aside so we may install our government."

Now, the other founding fathers are looking at each other, saying, "If Franklin can put his differences aside, why can't we?"

(insects chirping) SMITH: So we are now heading into the, kind of the final push for the campaign.

I feel generally positive, but then this voice, a voice just keeps popping up in your head that it's not going to happen, or, you know, there's going to be some horrible surprise.

(door opens) I'm Karen Smith, I'm running for reelection to the school board.

I don't think I'm going to relax until it's over.

But nauseously optimistic is the best way to describe it at this point.

(laughing) All right.

(sighs) VLASBLOM: So how do you feel about your region?

Very positive.

Good.

- A lot of good feedback.

I did have a woman tell me how grateful she was... Yeah.

- ...for, for the things that we had been doing in the district.

Yeah.

- Her husband sold her out... (laughing): ...and said, "You don't understand what a big deal this is.

Yeah.

- She's a Democrat."

HARING: We are making a strong push.

I have an amazing, dedicated crew of volunteers.

You know, the strongest week, they say, is, is the week before the election.

I took off work Monday and Tuesday, you know, so that I can be out and about and making sure we do whatever we need to do to get things locked in for the seventh.

AARATI: We've worked so hard, like, we've knocked on so many doors, done all these things.

Now you just kind of got to see what happens.

There's not much you can do at this point.

It's, like, well, you did everything you could.

Now you just got to kind of roll with the flow.

♪ ♪ (birds chirping) LELA: I don't know what's going to happen, but I am very, very, very much looking forward to it being over.

Two more days.

♪ ♪ The school board election is coming up, and I've actually really been intentional about not getting involved in the campaigns that are going on.

I still feel that there's some residual effect of me being very polarizing.

And so I feel that if any of the candidates are associated with me, it's going to be negative on them.

I can make pizzas for you.

You want me to make the pizzas, the cauliflower crust pizzas?

There have been, you know, a number of people that have been woken up.

They've seen what's going on.

They've gotten activated.

We just have to hope that there's enough to actually make a change in the school board.

DONTE: Let me know if you can't reach it.

Since you're always so much taller than me.

DONTE: What did you do today?

When she ran for school board, she was deemed the bogeyman, or the bogeyperson, all because we wanted diversity, equity, and inclusion, and she ran on that platform.

You see how they just pull them on?

Yeah, that's how they get... ADRIENNE: Diversity, equity, and inclusion and making sure that we're teaching full and complete... DONTE: History.

...accurate history, that is not meant to make anyone feel... Bad.

- ...bad.

DONTE: We were just advocating for our children.

It was never about politics.

It was never about red versus blue.

It was never even white or Black.

It was about what our family was going through.

That's the piece where I think empathy could come into play, to put yourself in someone else's shoes.

ADRIENNE: All we were saying is, "This is who we are."

DONTE: Right.

ADRIENNE: And so you're saying you don't want students reading Langston Hughes... - Right.

...or Frederick Douglass in school because it's too oppressive.

Well, then, if I look at myself, like, what is, what is that going to say to my kids?

DONTE: Right.

ADRIENNE: What does that say about them... DONTE: Right, right.

ADRIENNE: ...or their culture, or their history, and legacy, and all of that type of stuff?

We are being painted as this American nightmare, like, this, this angry, Black family, and all we wanted was to have our home and have our, send our kids to a great school district and, and just live life.

(television playing) (crickets chirping) AARATI: I know how it hurts to feel like you're othered in your own hometown.

It's a horrible thing.

I grew up in Alabama, and I never felt different because I was Indian.

Just because I was a nerd, but that's about it.

So then, fast-forward, I go to M.I.T., and, you know, I really enjoyed, like, you know, reading all the local newspapers.

I always made sure to read, like, the conservative one called "The Tech" and the more liberal one called "The Thistle," right?

Because it's thistle, it's poking you, right?

And, you know, reading more of the liberal stuff, it really got into my head: you know, you're being treated differently because you're Indian.

And now, all of a sudden, I would go back home, and I would, I would feel self-conscious in my own hometown-- I felt like a stranger in my hometown.

And it was because they had put it in my head that, "Oh, you're being treated differently because you're a different race."

So, and then I realized, like, I've got to, I've got to snap myself out of it.

I feel like they robbed my innocence.

Like, I feel, even to this day, I always feel a little weird going down south, because they put it into my head that there's this animus, which doesn't even really exist.

At least if it did, I never personally experienced it.

I was a happy, happy kid growing up.

I think it's a very destructive way to think.

How does that help you in your day-to-day?

It's the night before the election, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

Yeah, no, I mean, look, you know, it's just, like, every... I mean, it's fractal-- one minute, you can be, like, "We could win it," the other minute, it's, like, "I'm 1,300 votes in the hole-- what am I thinking?"

It just goes up and down, right?

It's just, like, to some extent, I think it's just relief-- we're glad it's over, right?

Because it's just been so much time.

I haven't spent that much time with my kids or my family.

I haven't cooked in, like, two or three weeks, right?

Because it's just been so busy and stuff, so... All this fighting, all this politics, it's such a waste of energy.

But what else do you do?

When, you know, fragile things like this are under attack, you have to stand up.

Right?

You have to stand up for what's right.

♪ ♪ LELA: Activism gets tricky, right?

Because for, for some people, making the world a better place is, looks very different than what I think.

So, um... (people talking in background) Sometimes people have ideas that are, that are really harmful, but I understand that they also think my ideas are, are harmful, you know?

So it's, it's tricky, it's tricky.

It's, it's not a, a black-and- white situation, I think.

I put the sign the wrong way.

Kids feel stress, right?

So I don't think they care so much what the political alignment of their friends' families are.

I think they do care if we make it an issue, if the adults are, you know, making them feel like, you know, their friends' families are bad people.

And I must say that's something that I, I have struggled with, you know?

Hannah!

I've written a lot of articles about Paul Martino.

We were, we were, you know, "best buddies" for a while.

It just felt bad.

I don't want to, I don't want to talk badly about my kids' friends' parents.

I don't want to have that adversarial relationship.

♪ ♪ On the other hand, Aarati, we're friendly with each other.

When we see each other, there's, there's, you know, she's, she's... She is a nice person.

When you talk to Aarati, she's a lovely, nice person to talk to.

We were able to maintain that civility and that, that friendliness, which probably wouldn't happen if our kids hadn't been friends, you know?

We, we work to see the best in each other in that way as our, as our kids' parents.

(people talking in background) WOMAN: Hey.

Aren't you hot?

WOMAN: Yeah ♪ ♪ MAN (on speakers): ♪ Hate on me, hate on me, hate on me ♪ ♪ Hate on me ♪ - (singing along) ♪ You might as well hate the sun ♪ ♪ For shining just a little too much ♪ (song continues) ♪ Hate on me, hate on me, hate on me ♪ SMITH (singing along): ♪ Hate on me ♪ ♪ Maybe at the end of the day ♪ ♪ You and me are both the same ♪ ♪ Just want to be loved ♪ It is election day.

There are a lot of eyes on our district.

If we win, it says one thing, and if we lose, it says one thing.

LELA: Our whole hearts are in this, and it means so much.

Not just, you know, for our county, but for the country.

Bucks is such a purple county in a purple state, and how we go often determines a much bigger picture.

I feel good in the fact that we've done everything we can, and at this point, it's up to voters, and that's democracy.

(laughs) WOMAN: We're such a small fish when it comes to Philadelphia and all the big cities.

VLASBLOM: Well, Bucks County is a small fish, but it's not.

There is a Project 19, where they have identified 19 counties in the United States that they have said will basically decide the election next year, and Bucks County is one of them.

- Wow.

♪ ♪ DEARMOND: The Central Bucks School District will go downhill if the Neighbors United slate of candidates succeeds in winning.

Everything is at stake.

I won't feel safe having my kids at Central Bucks.

SMITH: There's been some arguing, and I'm trying to encourage our side, just not engage, like, it's pointless.

It seems like there are quite a few Dems voting, though.

Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

I am confident with the things that I have done in this district.

HARING: I am so humbled and, and proud of, really, the people in this community.

It's about what's doing best for this district and for the students and the kids, and that's been lost.

(chuckles) (voice trembling): Have to give me a minute.

(groans) Um, it's a lot.

AARATI: To me, it feels 50-50.

I, plus, we're on a knife edge, so... WOMAN: You're going to change and move mountains, and I see it.

Oh, you're so... - No doubt, no doubt.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

I love you.

- I love you.

All right, yeah, definitely, I'll see you, I'll see you.

WOMAN: Yes, that's right.

PAUL (laughing): There she is!

VLASBLOM: Hi, how are you?

- There she is!

Remember him?

There's Zach.

- How's it going?

Good to see you!

- (laughing) How's your mom?

- Good.

How's it going?

- Good.

Have you been helping her today?

Um, not really.

VLASBLOM: No?

PAUL: No.

Zach is off the hook.

- I know, I don't blame you.

Zach, Zach was Daddy's emotional support.

- Right?

Right?

Well, there you go.

Vanessa, Vanessa was with Mommy at the last spot.

- Awesome.

PAUL: All right, I'm going to call Aarati.

I'm going to figure out what to do with the kids.

VLASBLOM: Awesome, and then we'll see you... And then, then it's time to start drinking.

Let's roll.

(people talking in background) DEARMOND: Well, here we are at our after-election party.

It's been a long day for everybody.

I can only hope and pray that it goes the way we hope.

And then tomorrow's a new day, and we'll, we'll go from there.

CROWD (chanting): Aarati!

Aarati!

(clapping and cheering) WOMAN: Hey.

Hey!

How are you?

DEARMOND: There she is.

AARATI: Good to see you.

How you doing?

SMITH: On our side, Democrats need to win four seats in order to take control of the board.

And on their side, they only need, unfortunately, need to win two seats in order to retain control of the board.

PAUL: And then that one you just sent me... That was... - ...she won by about 25%.

So it's kind of like one good, one bad, one a push, three to go.

- Right.

(laughing): So... CARTEE-HARING: I need something stronger than wine.

(laughing) I know.

CARTEE-HARING: I'm getting anxious.

AARATI: Oh, wow, that's-- I got to work tomorrow!

Cheers.

PAUL: Booze, that's what we got.

HUNTER: I'll feel better once all our numbers are in.

MAN: I want to thank you for everything that you've been doing for the school district.

MAN: You're a firecracker.

Thank goodness for you.

- Thank you, thank you.

I've tried so many... BRETT: Fingers crossed-- positive change.

WOMAN: Oh, my God, I have everything crossed from hairs on my head to toes.

SANTARSIERO (on speaker): We're still waiting on some numbers from Central Bucks.

♪ ♪ Ladies and gentlemen, we have the first announcement of the evening.

(crowd cheering and applauding) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ EVI: Someday, people are going to be reading about these times.

I mean, we're living through history.

We're making history.

LELA: The whole world is feeling this sense of unease.

The ground is shifting beneath us.

What do we hold onto?

We desperately need to be able to come together.

It feels like the next chapter of, like, a battle.

Leaving your kids in public school is like sending them to the front lines of a war and hoping they survive the incoming fire.

We got to stop this now.

No more conservative, no more liberal, no more their side, this side, that side.

It's humanity, man.

The final episode is as powerful as it is rewarding.

The series concludes with subtlety, complexity, and surprise, leading us back to one question: what example are we setting for our children?

Be sure to continue to watch after the finale's credits as I sit down with Evi and Vanessa and talk with them about their experience over the four years of filming, how they've changed, and what they hope for the future.

The series has had a profound effect on me, and I hope it will do the same for you.

Join the conversation.

Use #BucksCountyUSA and tag your local PBS station.

♪ ♪