The ebonics panic was just one of many instances where conservatives and moderates found common ground as the right spun moral panics into backlash politics, fostering a sense that something was wrong with schools, and anyone concerned about education quality and children’s well-being should be wary of public schools and progressive politics.

In places like Loudoun County and San Francisco, conservative activists are attempting to do the same today, refashioning a suite of school discontents into a wave of Republican victories.

What these decades of backlash politics show is that narrative plays a powerful role in shaping where politics flow. Democratic politicians often lack courage when backlash politics are in motion, as likely to jump on the outrage bandwagon as shrink into the shadows, waiting for it to blow over. But they and progressive activists have a responsibility to counter moral panics with narratives more rooted in reality and more concerned with those whose needs are being overlooked.