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<\/p>\nYou Can’t Read That! is a periodic post featuring news about banned and challenged books.<\/p>\n
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Arizona<\/strong><\/p>\n Hyperbolic but worth the read: an essay titled What Do Apartheid South Africa and Tucson, Arizona Have in Common?<\/a><\/p>\n Elsewhere<\/strong><\/p>\n Are\u00a0Republicans more likely than Democrats<\/a> to be in favor of banning books that teach “dangerous ideas”? \u00a0It would seem so (duh), but the good news is that today, fewer Americans overall approve of banning books than they did a few years ago.<\/p>\n Speaking of Republicans, one plank of the recently-adopted Texas GOP platform calls for eliminating the teaching of critical thinking in schools<\/a>:<\/p>\n Knowledge-Based Education \u2013 We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student\u2019s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What, you ask, does this have to do with banning books? \u00a0Everything. \u00a0When enforced ignorance shoulders its way into the law books (as with the recent law banning the mention of “gateway sexual activity” in Tennessee schools<\/a>, or the proposed Arizona law to ban “partisan” textbooks<\/a>), reactionary authorities will use the laws as an excuse to ban books from school reading lists and libraries … and in my opinion, banning books is the underlying purpose of such laws.<\/p>\n ACLU weighs in on Utah school’s book banning<\/a>. \u00a0Duh.<\/p>\n Bodily function books popular with kids; less so with parents<\/a>. \u00a0Duh.<\/p>\n Item:\u00a0spelling bee kids favor banned books<\/a>. \u00a0Another duh.<\/p>\n Illinois school board spokesman takes a lesson in denial from the Tucson Unified School District<\/a>: “Heaven forbid, we didn’t ban any books or materials from our school —\u00a0we merely chose to get other teaching materials from another place.” \u00a0Oh well, that’s okay then!<\/p>\n![\"mag-17Riff-t_CA0-articleLarge\"](\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7135\/7461486584_a551a9fc02.jpg\")
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