Book Bans

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• 6/25/2023
  

  New York's Education Wars a Century Ago Show how Content Restrictions Can Backfire

  by Bill Greer

  Laws enforcing ideological positions in education can gain popularity when they focus on unpopular ideas. But when they take effect to punish popular teachers, the public gets second thoughts. 

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• 6/25/2023
  

  Was a Utah District's Decision to Remove the Bible from Shelves a Win for the Anti-Anti-Woke? History Says Maybe Not

  by Matthew Smith

  When citizens invoked Utah's new "sensitive content" law to force the district to remove the Bible from school libraries, some hoped they had achieved a coup demonstrating the folly of the law. But the Bible has long been a part of cultural conflicts focused on schools, and that's unlikely to change anytime soon. 

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  6/14/2023
  

  As More Schools Ban "Maus," Art Spiegelman Fears Worse to Come

  “It’s a real warning sign of a country that’s yearning for a return of authoritarianism,” Spiegelman tells Post columnist Greg Sargent of the challenge made against his graphic-format Holocaust history by residents of Nixa, Missouri. 

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  6/9/2023
  

  Arkansas Libraries and Booksellers Sue over State Book Restrictions

  The vagueness of provisions in the new law about "making available" material "harmful" to minors makes librarians and sellers afraid that even with separate children's sections they would face criminal liability for selling books to adults. 

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• SOURCE: Truthout
  5/25/2023
  

  Book Bans and Attacks on Libraries are Energizing Youth Activism

  by Emily Drabinski

  Right-wing politicians in Texas are teaching students about the realities of democracy, but not in the way they might have hoped. 

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• SOURCE: WBUR
  5/23/2023
  

  Massachusetts-Based Historians: Book Bans in Florida Affect Us, Too

  Kellie Carter Jackson and Kerri Greenidge explain how the push to restrict books and teaching on racism in Florida will affect teaching even in blue states. 

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• SOURCE: Truthout
  5/18/2023
  

  George Yancy and Joe Feagin on How to Fight Back Against Book Bans

  The sociologist, whose books on racism have been banned, argues "U.S. book banning has been widespread and routinely targeted books with diverse ideas and perspectives for centuries now, especially those challenging white conservative sociopolitical ideas, norms and values."

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  5/23/2023
  

  Most Book Bans Driven by Tiny Minority of Activists; LGBTQ Themes Central to Objections

  Individuals who filed 10 or more challenges to books were responsible for two thirds of all complaints about books, suggesting a small group of political activists is driving the phenomenon. 

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  5/22/2023
  

  Dept. of Ed Charges Georgia Book Removal May Violate Civil Rights

  A review by the department's civil rights unit concludes that Forsyth County, Georgia may have created a hostile learning environment for Black and LGBTQ students through its book removal policies. 

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• SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
  5/15/2023
  

  Meet the Other Grassroots Moms Movement—The One Fighting For the Freedom to Read

  Jen Cousins of the Florida Freedom to Read Project won't let the right claim the political mantle of "parents' rights" in increasingly contentious education politics. 

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  5/17/2023
  

  Florida's Book Banners Face New Opposition—and Their Lawyers

  While there is a groundswell of opposition to book removal policies and other restrictions on educational content, it remains to be seen whether Democratic politicians will commit to defending the importance of public education in a multicultural democracy. 

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  5/18/2023
  

  The Fight for the Soul of a Missouri School Board

  by Sue Halpern

  Even in a conservative community in southwestern Missouri, a grassroots group of parents and students has rallied to oppose right-wing efforts to restrict books available in the local public schools. 

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• SOURCE: Miami New Times
  5/4/2023
  

  Florida History Professor's Nonprofit will Distribute Banned Books

  "We will not allow DeSantis to kill our history," says Marvin Dunn. "We just won't allow it. We will take our history directly to the parents if that's what's required, and apparently, it is what is required."

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  4/26/2023
  

  Why a Book About Two Bunnies Marrying Was Banned in 1959

  Illustrator and author Garth Williams feigned incredulity that his tale of a white and black rabbit's romance ran afoul of Jim Crow sensibilities, but it's hard to see how else it was likely to be perceived, says Sharon Patricia Holland of the University of North Carolina. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  4/22/2023
  

  Book Bans Surge as Officials Fear Ambiguities in Florida Law

  “It is a whole new level of fear,” said Kathleen Daniels, the president of the Florida Association for Media in Education, a professional organization for school librarians and media educators. “There are books that are not being selected because they have been challenged.”

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  4/5/2023
  

  Fighting Book Bans—and Winning

  by Alyssa Rosenberg

  Although book-banners have the attention of the media and are being used by politicians to create wedge issues, it's important to remember that the policy is unpopular, and can be resisted. 

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• SOURCE: BookRiot
  3/22/2023
  

  US House "Parental Rights" Bill Threatens to Take Book Banning Nationwide

  Each of the five “common sense principles” the bill's sponsor articulates are already granted to parents. What the bill really seeks is to empowe political groups to dictate the content of education and advance the privatization of public schools. 

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• SOURCE: Education Week
  3/16/2023
  

  Confusion Over Book Bans in Florida is a Feature, Not a Bug, of New Policies

  The state education commissioner of Florida, Manny Diaz, has insisted that the state is not banning books. Civil liberties and library groups say that vague laws and public threats of prosecution are pushing educators to remove books without technically being forced to do so, which is the point. 

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• SOURCE: The New Republic
  3/16/2023
  

  Meet Some Librarians Fighting Back

  Librarian Mary Grahame Hunter says libraries are places where children's rights and intellectual autonomy are respected. Some in her Michigan community are working to change that. 

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  3/10/2023
  

  What are the Evils and Dangers Targeted by Book Bans?

  A study of the books flagged for restriction in Duval County, Florida in the last two years suggests that a particular political vision is driving the bans, focusing on LGBTQ themes and racial and religious diversity. But a fear of adolescents' developing autonomy also seems to be in play.