As an avid book reader my entire life, thanks to the influence of my mother, and as an academic, I am greatly alarmed at the dramatic increase in book banning or what its supporters call “restricting access.” The books that are targeted are overwhelmingly written by non-white and LGBTQ+ authors. They address themes related to race, social justice, sex, or LGBTQ+ identity. In my home state of Florida, districts have removed some books entirely while restricting others to certain grades or requiring students to get parental permission to see them. Pen America, a non-profit that tracks book banning, reports that from July through December of 2022, Florida banned 357 books from public school libraries. Many of them are considered to be classics. Florida is second only to Texas in books banned.
Under the law promoted by Governor DeSantis and passed by the Republican legislature any person in a county can challenge a book and force a school district to pull it out of circulation and restrict student access to it until the book goes through a review by a media specialist or a librarian. If the media specialist or librarian disagrees with the parent, that parent has the right to appeal that decision to the local school board and the DeSantis appointed Commissioner of Education. Librarians and media specialists were warned to “err on the side of caution” when choosing books, or risk being charged with a third-degree felony for exposing kids to materials that violate laws on what is appropriate in terms of race, sex, and LGBQT+. In Duval County the public school district restricted access to more than a million books, keeping them out of students’ hands until they were reviewed by media specialists. Martin County officials removed around 150 books from school circulation in January and February until they could be reviewed.
The purposely vague legislation adopted by DeSantis and the Republican Party does not define critical race theory; social justice is not defined; sexual references are not defined as to what is acceptable or unacceptable; the term pornography is not defined; and LGBQT+ references are not defined as to what is acceptable or unacceptable. This has created a chilling effect in public schools for librarians, teachers, and principals who fear a legal backlash from the DeSantis controlled State Board of Education. Teachers across the state have either boxed up their classroom libraries or covered their shelves fearing possible felony charges or the loss of their jobs or their teaching licenses. Fear among teachers and school officials has led many simply to comply with the single parent who is making the complaint. For example, a parent in Wakulla County convinced school officials to remove a book written at a 3rd grade level about school desegregation. The book, Little Rock Nine, is based on actual events in U.S. history. Note that Florida schools begin teaching about segregation in fourth grade, but the book, remember it is written at a third-grade level, was decided to be “above the understanding” of all elementary students.
This is neither promoting individual freedom nor parental rights and it is an obstacle to one of the primary goals of education – the development of critical thinking skills in our students. In fact, the legislation is completely unnecessary should common sense prevail. What do I mean by common sense? All parents have to do is simply go to their child’s teacher and ask for an alternative book for their child or ask the school librarian to not allow their child to check out that particular book. In my experience, I dare say that neither a teacher nor a librarian would deny the parental request. In such a situation both the rights of the parents who do not want their child to have access to the book and the rights of the other parents who have no problems with the book are fully respected. But Governor DeSantis and the Republicans have thrown common sense out of the window.
Why do this? DeSantis is running for President and appealing to the primary supporters of his mentor, Donald Trump, via what has been labeled the culture wars of which book banning is a central component. There are two primary groups that make up Trump supporters: right-wing evangelicals who believe that their Christian America is disappearing and the working class who have lost their jobs due to deindustrialization and globalization and believe they are being replaced by people of color and immigrants. DeSantis is playing the populist card by giving these groups someone or something to blame for their discontent with America.
So, what can we do at the local level to fight the book bans? Pay attention to the agenda of public school board meetings. Often this is where objections to books are first raised. Seek out your neighbors and attend the meetings as a group. Take your children to the meetings. Speak out against book bans at the meetings even if you do not have a child at that school. Ask the person suggesting the ban if he or she has actually read the book. Local groups need to be formed to challenge the growing power of book banning groups such as the Mothers for Liberty. It is important to run for and serve on local school boards. Write letters to the editor of your local newspapers that expose the book bans at your local public schools. Go to local campaign debates and ask candidates about the book bans. Follow how your representatives have voted on issues concerning book bans. Share that information with others. Join your local county Democratic Party organization and make sure that book bans are on its agenda. And the bottom line is simply don’t vote for Republicans.
Finally, I note that DeSantis touts Florida as the model for America should he become president. Really? National book bans? Think about that...
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