Neighbour gives Virginia mother the middle finger during Fox News interview on critical race theory

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A woman opposing critical race theory in schools was given a double-barreled "F-you" by a neighbour she thought was a friend during an interview with Fox News.

The news organization is in the midst of a multi-part series on parents at a Virginia school district who say they’ve been attacked and bullied by members of the “Anti-Racist Parents of Loudoun County” Facebook group.

As Fox was interviewing Jessica Mendez on the bullying her family received for publicly opposing the doctrine in schools, her neighbour flipped two birds in the background in clear view of the rolling cameras.

The person appears to do a little dance waiving the two middle fingers in the air from across the road and behind the back of Ms Mendez, who has two children enrolled in the district.

"I can’t believe that just happened, actually I thought that I had a good friend in my neighbours, and I’m really hurt right now because I thought that we had a rapport," Ms Mendez said.

She said the neighbour was a supporter of the Democrats but that she had thought they were still friends who could talk to each other despite their political differences.

“I honestly believed that that was the case. I guess I was wrong. I feel so betrayed right now because I, I’m so sad for people that can’t move past that and look at me and judge me for my character and who I am as a person instead of what my political beliefs are," she said.

Despite Fox News’ focus on the Facebook group and the parents who say they have been targeted by its members on social media as "racists", the school district says critical race theory is not included in its curriculum.

"Critical race theory is not something that is relatable on the K-12 level, it’s not something that is taught in our schools or presented to our students," interim superintendent Scott Ziegler told Fox.

But parents claim the curriculum’s "equity" learning is critical race theory in disguise, and they’ve sued Loudoun County Public Schools for discriminating against students based on race.

The court filing on Wednesday alleges the school disqualified white students from serving as "equity ambassadors", according to Fox News.