Harry Potter has been training young people for 20 years to stand up to Donald Trump

In 1999, a mother named Elizabeth Mounce spoke before the South Carolina State Board of Education. She had a thought or two about a book series that just a year prior had made its American debut, Harry Potter. Mounce told the board that author J.K. Rowling’s works had "a serious tone of death, hate, lack of respect and sheer evil." Mounce was one of several people all around the country who were demanding the removal of Harry Potter novels from the classroom. They insisted we couldn’t anticipate the impact it would have on their children. In a way, they were right. When Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone came to the United States in 1998 they became a phenomenon that is yet to fade away. Sorcerer’s Stone and the books that followed taught kids that a person can overcome anything if they work hard and believe in themselves. They insisted that a good heart armored with love, friendship, and acceptance can can overcome tyranny, bigotry, and hate. The kids who consumed the books so eagerly? A lot of them have reached adulthood or are nearly there and they haven’t forgotten the moral of the story.