You Can’t Read That! is a periodic post about book banning. YCRT! features news and opinion roundups, commentary, history, and reviews.
YCRT! Flashback
Alice Moore’s be-no list (from 1974): books “that pry into home life; teach racial hatred; undermine religious, ethnic, or racial groups; encourage sedition; insult patriotism; teach that an alien form of government is acceptable; use the name of God in vain; or use offensive language.”
They Once Blew Up a Classroom Over Textbooks, So, Yeah, There Will Be Violence (The Rude Pundit)
In 1974, in West Virginia, protesters used dynamite and Molotov cocktails against the buildings of their enemies. The protesters were upset that the Board of Education of Kanawha County voted to update the textbooks in the district’s language arts classes to include more modern authors in an effort to be more inclusive and multiracial. Kanawha County is the biggest in the state, and it includes the capital, Charleston. A fundamentalist Christian member of the board, Alice Moore, discovered that some of the new books included profanity, sex, evolution, and Freud. Oh, they also contained works by Black activists like Malcom X. Moore said that she was upset that the new books would teach American history in a [manner] “unduly favoring Blacks.”
YCRT! Drag Queen Moment
For that matter, have you ever been sexually assaulted by a banned book?
?? MUST-WATCH: “I’ve never been sexually assaulted at a drag show, but I have been at church. TWICE! The men told me it was MY fault.”
MAURY COUNTY library board – local mom rips homophobe County Commissioner Aaron Miller, whose ignorant hate chased out the library director? pic.twitter.com/D6HrzugANN
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) October 27, 2022
YCRT! News & Opinion Roundup
Restrictions will never be enough for book-banners. They want bans (with a capital B).
Book Ban Vote Unleashes Mayhem at Michigan School Board Meeting (Daily Beast)
A Michigan school board meeting over the fate of a controversial library book went off-the-rails Monday evening, with impassioned speakers airing their outrage and pushing political agendas. The raucous crowd became so wild that board members were forced to abruptly end the discussion—after voting to severely restrict students’ access to the book, Gender Queer: A Memoir.
Now they’re attacking the American Library Association’s challenged book review process, used by nearly every school district in the country.
Dearborn Board Meeting Shuts Down amid Chorus of ‘Vote Them Out’ over Book Policy (Detroit News)
… the district’s media specialists are reviewing school collections, removing books that students no longer use, are out-of-date or found to be not age appropriate, according to the release. Parents still concerned about a specific book in a school can pursue removal through a challenge process, which starts with requesting a re-evaluation. … Some parents and residents who attended the meeting argued the moves are not enough.
600-person protests. Shut-down school board meetings. Bigoted signs. Books ripped off shelves. Libraries defunded. And a few brave voices daring to defend the freedom to read.
This is what the campaign to ban books looks like in #Michigan. #VelshiBannedBookClub #Velshi pic.twitter.com/r09duehkp2
— Ali Velshi (@AliVelshi) October 23, 2022
Or you can just blow off the district book review committee’s decision …
Spring Lake Board Votes to Remove Book on Sexuality from High School Library (WOODTV.com/Grand Rapids MI)
The Spring Lake Public Schools Board voted on Monday to remove a book dealing with gender and sexuality from the high school library, reversing a decision by the district’s Material Review Committee.
The book-banning teacher mentioned in my previous YCRT! post gets her way. Another review process bypass.
Escambia County School District in Florida Restricts over 100 Books Prior to Completing Formal Review (National Coalition Against Censorship)
… in response to a mass challenge from a single teacher, Superintendent Smith mandated that the more than 100 books in question could only be accessed with parental permission. This action by the Superintendent violated the district’s own book challenge procedure, which states that “[a]ccess to challenged resources shall not be restricted during the review process.”
The book-banning teacher in Florida’s Escambia County won’t be an outlier much longer …
Florida Puts Raging MAGA Moms on Book-Banning Council (Daily Beast)
In the name of “curriculum transparency,” Florida’s Republican-controlled state government has appointed several anti-gay and anti-mask conspiracy theorists to take charge of a new effort at public schools: banning books. This hastily assembled censorship council—tasked with retraining public school librarians to abide by new restrictions—is the latest ploy in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ crusade to upend the state’s education system.
Here’s a deeper look into how organized book-banning groups are becoming:
Elmbrook Schools to Review Policy on Censored Books (Wisconsin Examiner)
School district emails, obtained by Wisconsin Examiner through an open records request, shed light on the pressure to remove books placed on Elmbrook’s libraries and classrooms by an organized group of parents. Books the parents feel are inappropriate because they cover sexuality and other controversial topics including race are the main lightening rods for that activity. The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) has assisted parents who object to certain books.
Inching toward hazardous duty pay for librarians …
Libraries Are Beefing up Security after a Series of Violent Threats (Vice)
In September, library systems in Hawaii, Utah, Colorado, Texas, Tennessee, Massachusetts, and other states were forced to closed temporarily after receiving shooting and bomb threats. … The threats come at a time when libraries have become an unwitting political battleground — from book bans to anti-LGBTQ harassment by far-right groups. The American Library Association (ALA) has asked FBI director Christopher Wray to investigate whether there is any connection between the recent threats, but little remains known about whether the events are part of a coordinated effort to disrupt services.
The witch hunt is never over …
After Education Board’s Update, Group Says Porn Is Still in Libraries (KSL.com/Salt Lake City)
The Utah State Board of Education has released data that it says provides insight into whether H.B.374 (Utah’s law banning “sensitive materials” in public schools) is fulfilling its purpose — to remove materials deemed as pornography from Utah schools. However, the law’s sponsor, Rep. Ken Ivory (R-District 47), and a group of parents claim that there are books containing graphic content that have been allowed to stay.
If the Supreme Court can reverse Roe v. Wade, what’s to stop it from reversing Board of Education v. Pico?
South Carolina Middle School Removes Book on Anti-racism from Library (National Coalition Against Censorship)
… the school removed the book from the library in order to be compliant with South Carolina State Proviso 1.93, which prohibits certain school spending on ideas often associated with Critical Race Theory. However, application of this proviso to the selection of library books is improper. Not only does the proviso not appear to limit spending related to school library books, but such an application would be unconstitutional. The Supreme Court made it clear in Board of Education v. Pico. that “school boards may not remove books from library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books.”
When doxxing and death threats are not enough …
The Scapegoats of Status Quo (ALA Intellectual Freedom Blog)
As librarians across the country face unprecedented scrutiny by conservative groups hoping to squash the freedom to read, a Tennessee district attorney made headlines for insinuating she would prosecute librarians for carrying LGBTQ+ books. … Moms for Liberty is taking their ironic mission a step further. Going beyond book banning, they are scapegoating librarians and educators by seeking out legal ways to actively punish those who purchase or teach inclusive materials and curricula.
I have a “Peanuts” desk calendar (though based in UK). The recent story thread, which ended on Monday, was about Miss Sweetstory’s book being banned from the school library. Maybe the ending didn’t translate too well across the pond, but it seemed not to cause too much of an issue. I found that surprising and a little unsettling. If book-banning is reaching cartoon scripts, and is not seen as a big deal, you guys really do have a problem!
I have a panel from that Peanuts strip (did you send it?) and am saving it to use in a future YCRT! post.