Education and Censorship in the US
April 16, 2023 8:34 AM Subscribe
Children's author Maggie Tokuda-Hall lost a deal with Scholastic to license her book about love and the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II because Scholastic (the world's largest book publisher and distributor of children's literature) requested that she remove the mention of racism in her author's note. Scholastic, after the public outcry, has apologized and offered to restart the conversation with her. Meanwhile, book challenges and bans of "woke" material continue to proceed at an alarming rate in the US.
Maia Kobabe, author of the graphic memoir, Gender Queer, has the distinction of the most banned book in the US, and has been the center of debate among many school districts, including in CA, where the book has been labelled as "pornographic" and "age-inappropriate" for its illustrations of explicit sex acts. Parents are at odds over the material and censorship. Scholastic will be publishing Kobabe's next graphic novel in its Graphix imprint in 2025, another exploration of gender identity. The author has said that eir graphic novel has enabled kids to speak with their own parents about their identity.
NPR has a series of essays and interviews with authors who have found their books being challenged, banned, and censored in the US.
A Texas county that was ordered by a federal judge to return more than a dozen books improperly pulled from its libraries shelves is now considering shutting down all its libraries instead.
US Education Secretary Cardona said that people focused on banning books should instead focus on banning guns, a sentiment that appears to be gaining traction with many people, including Liz Cheney, US Florida Rep Maxwell Frost, and others.
Book Riot has an anti-censorship toolkit, as does PENAmerica, and the Washington Post (gift link).
Maia Kobabe, author of the graphic memoir, Gender Queer, has the distinction of the most banned book in the US, and has been the center of debate among many school districts, including in CA, where the book has been labelled as "pornographic" and "age-inappropriate" for its illustrations of explicit sex acts. Parents are at odds over the material and censorship. Scholastic will be publishing Kobabe's next graphic novel in its Graphix imprint in 2025, another exploration of gender identity. The author has said that eir graphic novel has enabled kids to speak with their own parents about their identity.
NPR has a series of essays and interviews with authors who have found their books being challenged, banned, and censored in the US.
A Texas county that was ordered by a federal judge to return more than a dozen books improperly pulled from its libraries shelves is now considering shutting down all its libraries instead.
US Education Secretary Cardona said that people focused on banning books should instead focus on banning guns, a sentiment that appears to be gaining traction with many people, including Liz Cheney, US Florida Rep Maxwell Frost, and others.
Book Riot has an anti-censorship toolkit, as does PENAmerica, and the Washington Post (gift link).
There's also Fight for the First, a project from the advocacy group EveryLibrary.
(While I don't want this to be a derail, I don't necessarily agree that the images in Gender Queer are explicit, at least as that term is legally defined. Accepting that characterization uncritically is giving up ground to people who call librarians pedophiles.)
posted by box at 10:25 AM on April 16, 2023 [15 favorites]
(While I don't want this to be a derail, I don't necessarily agree that the images in Gender Queer are explicit, at least as that term is legally defined. Accepting that characterization uncritically is giving up ground to people who call librarians pedophiles.)
posted by box at 10:25 AM on April 16, 2023 [15 favorites]
And Unite Against Book Bans, from the American Library Association and partners.
posted by box at 11:01 AM on April 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by box at 11:01 AM on April 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
Add the publisher who removed mentions of race from the story of Rosa Parks.
This is the thing I find most disheartening. Not that some yahoo is worried their kid will learn their parents/ancestors are/were racist, but that publishers are so eager to suck up to the politicians' agenda.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 11:50 AM on April 16, 2023 [24 favorites]
This is the thing I find most disheartening. Not that some yahoo is worried their kid will learn their parents/ancestors are/were racist, but that publishers are so eager to suck up to the politicians' agenda.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 11:50 AM on April 16, 2023 [24 favorites]
I used to work in educational publishing and unfortunately this doesn't surprise me at all. Educational publishers absolutely take into account what initiatives are going on in key states and they deliberately create and curate materials to match those specific initiatives. There are entire departments devoted to this. It's always going to be about the sales. They can't lose those key customers or the bottom falls out.
posted by bookmammal at 12:08 PM on April 16, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by bookmammal at 12:08 PM on April 16, 2023 [9 favorites]
Won't somebody think of the children?
posted by flabdablet at 12:17 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by flabdablet at 12:17 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
The Llano County (the Texas county mentioned in the OP) commissioners had library closure on their agenda last week, but removed it from the agenda at the last minute. Not sure whether this means they want to keep the library open after all, or just want to wait until attention is no longer on them.
Republicans in the Missouri House of Representatives have brought forward a bill to withdraw funding from all libraries in state.
But these are half-measures. They need to either criminalize literacy, or criminalize possession of a book without a permit. Permits will be granted to people who pass a morality (aka Christianity) test that will definitively rule out any possibility one would be interested in unapproved topics, or unapproved treatments of controversial topics.
posted by adamrice at 12:18 PM on April 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
Republicans in the Missouri House of Representatives have brought forward a bill to withdraw funding from all libraries in state.
But these are half-measures. They need to either criminalize literacy, or criminalize possession of a book without a permit. Permits will be granted to people who pass a morality (aka Christianity) test that will definitively rule out any possibility one would be interested in unapproved topics, or unapproved treatments of controversial topics.
posted by adamrice at 12:18 PM on April 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
Republicans in the Missouri House of Representatives have brought forward a bill to withdraw funding from all libraries in state.
If they manage to do it, it will affect smaller and rural libraries most--they're the ones that depend on that money.
Big public library systems like St. Louis, St. Louis County, and Kansas City are supported almost entirely by property taxes (for KC, e.g., it's $14+ million in taxes compared to $130k in state aid).
posted by box at 12:42 PM on April 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
If they manage to do it, it will affect smaller and rural libraries most--they're the ones that depend on that money.
Big public library systems like St. Louis, St. Louis County, and Kansas City are supported almost entirely by property taxes (for KC, e.g., it's $14+ million in taxes compared to $130k in state aid).
posted by box at 12:42 PM on April 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
When I taught middle school we did a unit in eighth grade for Banned Books Week. At the time -- ten years ago now, yikes -- I would always emphasize that really, banned was sort of a misnomer; what we were really talking about were challenged books or restricted (not available in an elementary school library, for example) books, but that actual book bans were not so much a thing in the US in 2014.
And of course, the challenges were outrageous enough! We did a case study about Chicago Public Schools' removal of the book Persepolis from classroom libraries. We talked about And Tango Makes Three. We talked about the book challenge procedures we had in place at our own school. We talked about the differences between soft censorship and collection development. But always, the underlying message was -- yes, books might be made unavailable in certain settings, or the usage of a given book might be restricted in a classroom or in certain institutions, but you'd always be able to order that book online or order it through ILL. I absolutely believed that.
I think about that a lot. I would teach that unit very differently now.
posted by goodbyewaffles at 2:22 PM on April 16, 2023 [15 favorites]
And of course, the challenges were outrageous enough! We did a case study about Chicago Public Schools' removal of the book Persepolis from classroom libraries. We talked about And Tango Makes Three. We talked about the book challenge procedures we had in place at our own school. We talked about the differences between soft censorship and collection development. But always, the underlying message was -- yes, books might be made unavailable in certain settings, or the usage of a given book might be restricted in a classroom or in certain institutions, but you'd always be able to order that book online or order it through ILL. I absolutely believed that.
I think about that a lot. I would teach that unit very differently now.
posted by goodbyewaffles at 2:22 PM on April 16, 2023 [15 favorites]
box, thanks for pointing out that detail about whether or not Gender Queer is explicit - I admittedly have not read the work yet, and was going off of descriptions in mainstream media. I should be more careful about stuff like that.
Judy Blume has weighed in: “I just read a book that was wonderfully enlightening to me. It’s called ‘Gender Queer’ [a memoir by Maia Kobabe]. It’s probably the No. 1 banned book in America right now. And I thought, ‘This young person is telling me how they came to be what they are today.’ And I learned a lot, and became even more empathetic. That’s what books are all about.”‘
posted by toastyk at 4:27 PM on April 16, 2023 [19 favorites]
Judy Blume has weighed in: “I just read a book that was wonderfully enlightening to me. It’s called ‘Gender Queer’ [a memoir by Maia Kobabe]. It’s probably the No. 1 banned book in America right now. And I thought, ‘This young person is telling me how they came to be what they are today.’ And I learned a lot, and became even more empathetic. That’s what books are all about.”‘
posted by toastyk at 4:27 PM on April 16, 2023 [19 favorites]
There are entire departments devoted to this.
Oh, I don’t find it surprising. It’s actually quite predictable. It’s still disheartening.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 7:29 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Oh, I don’t find it surprising. It’s actually quite predictable. It’s still disheartening.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 7:29 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
I should be more careful about stuff like that.
To be fair, it depicts oral-genital and fully unclothed genital-genital missionary position sex. There may be values of ‘explicit’ that it does not meet but that’s going to be a hard sell in Peoria.
posted by perhapsolutely at 8:07 PM on April 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
To be fair, it depicts oral-genital and fully unclothed genital-genital missionary position sex. There may be values of ‘explicit’ that it does not meet but that’s going to be a hard sell in Peoria.
posted by perhapsolutely at 8:07 PM on April 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
In Missouri, Republican legislators have put forward a motion to deny all state funding to public libraries, citing librarian support for an ACLU lawsuit challenging efforts to censor materials from schools as the reason behind their efforts to defund the libraries.
As I understand it, the measure would only deny funds previously provided by the state government to public libraries, which generally receive the bulk of their funding from more local levels of government, but it will still damage libraries' ability to provide critical services to communities and is absolutely meant to have a chilling effect and silence librarians' efforts to combat censorship.
posted by Nerd of the North at 8:14 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
As I understand it, the measure would only deny funds previously provided by the state government to public libraries, which generally receive the bulk of their funding from more local levels of government, but it will still damage libraries' ability to provide critical services to communities and is absolutely meant to have a chilling effect and silence librarians' efforts to combat censorship.
posted by Nerd of the North at 8:14 PM on April 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
American Library Association report shows book bans and challenges surged in 2022 - "Deborah Caldwell is director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom and the Freedom to Read Foundation."*
American Library Association reports record number of demands to censor library books and materials in 2022 - "The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 challenges reported in 2021. A record 2,571 unique titles were targeted for censorship, a 38% increase from the 1,858 unique titles targeted for censorship in 2021. Of those titles, the vast majority were written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color."
A Supreme Court case threatens to put the Christian Right in charge of your workplace - "Groff v. DeJoy could give religious conservatives unprecedented power to make demands from their employers."
American Library Association reports record number of demands to censor library books and materials in 2022 - "The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 challenges reported in 2021. A record 2,571 unique titles were targeted for censorship, a 38% increase from the 1,858 unique titles targeted for censorship in 2021. Of those titles, the vast majority were written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color."
The prevalent use of lists of books compiled by organized censorship groups contributed significantly to the skyrocketing number of challenges and the frequency with which each title was challenged. Of the overall number of books challenged, 90% were part of attempts to censor multiple titles. Of the books challenged, 40% were in cases involving 100 or more booksalso btw...
Prior to 2021, the vast majority of challenges to library resources only sought to remove or restrict access to a single book.
“A book challenge is a demand to remove a book from a library’s collection so that no one else can read it. Overwhelmingly, we’re seeing these challenges come from organized censorship groups that target local library board meetings to demand removal of a long list of books they share on social media,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “Their aim is to suppress the voices of those traditionally excluded from our nation’s conversations, such as people in the LGBTQIA+ community or people of color.
“Each attempt to ban a book by one of these groups represents a direct attack on every person’s constitutionally protected right to freely choose what books to read and what ideas to explore,” said Caldwell-Stone. "The choice of what to read must be left to the reader or, in the case of children, to parents. That choice does not belong to self-appointed book police.”
A Supreme Court case threatens to put the Christian Right in charge of your workplace - "Groff v. DeJoy could give religious conservatives unprecedented power to make demands from their employers."
This uncertainty, moreover, might cause employers to err on the side of granting accommodations even in cases where doing so might harm another worker, such as the hypothetical case of an anti-LGBTQ worker who insists upon evangelizing to their queer colleagues. And a too-vague framework might also give ideological judges — the name “Matthew Kacsmaryk” comes immediately to mind — far too much leeway to impose their own conservative religious ideology on employers.posted by kliuless at 8:22 PM on April 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
In my own community (a small geographically-isolated town in the Alexander Archipelago of Southeast Alaska) we are also fighting battles in defense of our library.
Last summer we had protestors protesting Drag Queen Story Time (but also had people turning out to stand against the protestors, as well as record demand from families wanting to attend, such that extra sessions had to be scheduled to accommodate those wishing to be there.)
This past October we organized and defeated local ballot proposition 2, a measure that would have eliminated about 45% of our local library funding, that was placed on the ballot after the library declined to remove LGBTQ+-tolerant materials that a family claimed violated their religious sensitivities.
And just this past Tuesday night I found myself part of an overflow crowd packed into what I would assume is ordinarily the uneventful Library Advisory Board meeting. I didn't count the number of people attending but the public comment period, during which each person giving comment was limited to three minutes max, lasted 90 minutes. The issue this time around was a parent-submitted request to remove from the library's teen non-fiction section "Let's Talk About It", a non-fiction graphic work intended to accurately answer adolescents' questions about sex, sexuality, and related topics, and to facilitate conversations between teens and parents.
I am very alarmed by this trend.
posted by Nerd of the North at 8:47 PM on April 16, 2023 [19 favorites]
Last summer we had protestors protesting Drag Queen Story Time (but also had people turning out to stand against the protestors, as well as record demand from families wanting to attend, such that extra sessions had to be scheduled to accommodate those wishing to be there.)
This past October we organized and defeated local ballot proposition 2, a measure that would have eliminated about 45% of our local library funding, that was placed on the ballot after the library declined to remove LGBTQ+-tolerant materials that a family claimed violated their religious sensitivities.
And just this past Tuesday night I found myself part of an overflow crowd packed into what I would assume is ordinarily the uneventful Library Advisory Board meeting. I didn't count the number of people attending but the public comment period, during which each person giving comment was limited to three minutes max, lasted 90 minutes. The issue this time around was a parent-submitted request to remove from the library's teen non-fiction section "Let's Talk About It", a non-fiction graphic work intended to accurately answer adolescents' questions about sex, sexuality, and related topics, and to facilitate conversations between teens and parents.
I am very alarmed by this trend.
posted by Nerd of the North at 8:47 PM on April 16, 2023 [19 favorites]
I have read Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe and it is definitely suitable/appropriate for ages 15 to 18, and quite possibly for some 14 year olds.
I would not describe it as explicit unless you regard an acknowledgement that teenagers masturbate as explicit.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 9:04 PM on April 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
I would not describe it as explicit unless you regard an acknowledgement that teenagers masturbate as explicit.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 9:04 PM on April 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
I guess it's just as well that the recent reissues of the Baby-Sitters Club books seem to have petered out before they got to Keep Out, Claudia!
Next week, April 23-29, is National Library Week in the US. Monday April 24th is Right to Read Day and Thursday April 27th is Take Action for Libraries Day. Note that Scholastic is a proud sponsor, hmmmmm.....
Libraries for the People has some ideas and resources for library defenders.
posted by the primroses were over at 5:39 AM on April 17, 2023
Next week, April 23-29, is National Library Week in the US. Monday April 24th is Right to Read Day and Thursday April 27th is Take Action for Libraries Day. Note that Scholastic is a proud sponsor, hmmmmm.....
Libraries for the People has some ideas and resources for library defenders.
posted by the primroses were over at 5:39 AM on April 17, 2023
The right has managed to exploit our systems by realizing that the cost of complaining/action is low for them and high for everyone else. A single family complains and that requires a community of people to respond. Even if sanity prevails, the Republicans defund libraries in response which requires even more community effort. And this is one facet of their many faceted attack on a free and open society.
posted by kokaku at 5:44 AM on April 17, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by kokaku at 5:44 AM on April 17, 2023 [8 favorites]
In Kutztown, PA, apparently the attempt at a book ban on a fictionalized YA novel on climate change backfired.
But right-wingers who thought they had “banned” a climate-change book in Kutztown only made it more popular. Middle schoolers not only were allowed access to Two Degrees from the boxes that school officials had already opened before the “One Book, One School” cancellation, but many enjoyed the 200 free copies doled out by Red, Wine & Blue.
posted by toastyk at 8:18 AM on April 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
But right-wingers who thought they had “banned” a climate-change book in Kutztown only made it more popular. Middle schoolers not only were allowed access to Two Degrees from the boxes that school officials had already opened before the “One Book, One School” cancellation, but many enjoyed the 200 free copies doled out by Red, Wine & Blue.
posted by toastyk at 8:18 AM on April 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
Question for the librarians of Mefi. How do libraries legitimately manage explicit materials not suitable for kids? Like, Forever really shouldn’t be on the shelf for 8 year olds.
posted by haptic_avenger at 7:40 PM on April 17, 2023
posted by haptic_avenger at 7:40 PM on April 17, 2023
Most libraries have separate sections for children, young adults, and adults.
But that's really all that's necessary. An 8 year old shouldn't be unsupervised in a library.
posted by tiny frying pan at 4:55 AM on April 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
But that's really all that's necessary. An 8 year old shouldn't be unsupervised in a library.
posted by tiny frying pan at 4:55 AM on April 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
Question for the librarians of Mefi. How do libraries legitimately manage explicit materials not suitable for kids? Like, Forever really shouldn’t be on the shelf for 8 year olds.
As a librarian of MeFi and a former 8-year-old, do you mean the Judy Blume book Forever?? Like no, I wouldn't hand it to a kid, but I wasn't much older than 8 when I read it. It's not "explicit" in any useful sense of that word. I re-read it maybe five or six years ago and was sort of shocked that we considered it scandalous. Honestly it just won't be interesting to an 8-year-old. It wasn't particularly interesting to me at ten, or at 30.
Otherwise tiny frying pan has it. Public libraries put books in appropriate sections. If you don't want your kid to freely roam the shelves, then supervise them. In a school library, we buy materials for the age group we serve. Parents who would prefer that their children not choose their own reading materials are, in most schools, able to share this preference with the librarian, and then we don't let their kid check out books. I think this is a real loss, but at the end of the day they get to make that choice for their children.
posted by goodbyewaffles at 6:35 AM on April 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
As a librarian of MeFi and a former 8-year-old, do you mean the Judy Blume book Forever?? Like no, I wouldn't hand it to a kid, but I wasn't much older than 8 when I read it. It's not "explicit" in any useful sense of that word. I re-read it maybe five or six years ago and was sort of shocked that we considered it scandalous. Honestly it just won't be interesting to an 8-year-old. It wasn't particularly interesting to me at ten, or at 30.
Otherwise tiny frying pan has it. Public libraries put books in appropriate sections. If you don't want your kid to freely roam the shelves, then supervise them. In a school library, we buy materials for the age group we serve. Parents who would prefer that their children not choose their own reading materials are, in most schools, able to share this preference with the librarian, and then we don't let their kid check out books. I think this is a real loss, but at the end of the day they get to make that choice for their children.
posted by goodbyewaffles at 6:35 AM on April 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
In almost all public libraries, fiction books are organized (first) by reading level, and most libraries would classify Forever as a Young Adult book, alongside things like The Hunger Games and The Hate U Give. These are generally shelved away from books aimed at either adults or younger kids.
Where I work, we don't allow younger kids to be in the library without a parent or guardian, and we don't sign them up for library cards without adult consent.
While it's my personal opinion that people of all ages should be able to read whatever they want to read, a good library uses tools like cataloging, classification, and Accelerated Reader ratings to develop their collections, and makes these and other resources available for parents who wish to take a more active interest in their child's reading.
posted by box at 7:45 AM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
Where I work, we don't allow younger kids to be in the library without a parent or guardian, and we don't sign them up for library cards without adult consent.
While it's my personal opinion that people of all ages should be able to read whatever they want to read, a good library uses tools like cataloging, classification, and Accelerated Reader ratings to develop their collections, and makes these and other resources available for parents who wish to take a more active interest in their child's reading.
posted by box at 7:45 AM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
In my previous comment, I mentioned several library battles we're fighting in my small Alaska community. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the state:
I find it interesting that one of the books specifically mentioned in the article on the Mat-Su censorship efforts is the exact same title that was recently challenged down here in Ketchikan and I assume that this is not a coincidence. I would guess that there is coordination and social media sharing between the groups that are popping up in various places - maybe not all of them but many of them. By any chance does anybody have a source of good information on if and/or how such groups are coordinating?
posted by Nerd of the North at 11:29 PM on April 18, 2023
Mat-Su school district reviewing book fairs and library collections over concerns about ‘sexually explicit’ volumes(in Alaska parlance, "Mat-Su" is a common shortening of the name of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, infamous in the rest of the state for its fringe conservative politics, which can be a bit out there even by Alaskan standards.)
I find it interesting that one of the books specifically mentioned in the article on the Mat-Su censorship efforts is the exact same title that was recently challenged down here in Ketchikan and I assume that this is not a coincidence. I would guess that there is coordination and social media sharing between the groups that are popping up in various places - maybe not all of them but many of them. By any chance does anybody have a source of good information on if and/or how such groups are coordinating?
posted by Nerd of the North at 11:29 PM on April 18, 2023
I know I risk overwhelming this thread with Alaska-specific examples of the war against education and libraries in this country but ProPublica has just recently dropped this article on the politically-partisan official who was put in charge of the Anchorage library system and it's horrifying.
Sample quote from the appointee: ‘I worked in an Alaska Native village. If it wasn’t for the white man and his oil money, they’d still be raping their daughters in caves.’
Show your local librarians some love. The way things are going they are going to be on the front lines -- if they aren't already.
posted by Nerd of the North at 8:16 AM on April 22, 2023 [4 favorites]
Sample quote from the appointee: ‘I worked in an Alaska Native village. If it wasn’t for the white man and his oil money, they’d still be raping their daughters in caves.’
Show your local librarians some love. The way things are going they are going to be on the front lines -- if they aren't already.
posted by Nerd of the North at 8:16 AM on April 22, 2023 [4 favorites]
I tried to make a post earlier but somehow got timed out. Anyway, Nerd of the North, I've been very appreciative of your posts - it's really good to know what's happening in other places, even if it is depressing.
In FL on Friday there was a statewide student walkout over the new censorship laws.
In TX a bill to remove "racy" books from schools passed in the state legislature.
posted by toastyk at 9:32 AM on April 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
In FL on Friday there was a statewide student walkout over the new censorship laws.
In TX a bill to remove "racy" books from schools passed in the state legislature.
posted by toastyk at 9:32 AM on April 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
April 24 is Right to Read Day, and it's part of National Library Week.
posted by toastyk at 11:50 AM on April 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by toastyk at 11:50 AM on April 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
Nerd of the North, you were wondering about possible coordination in light of the book bans. I just came across this reporting today from Judd Legum's Popular Info substack:
Virtually all of the books kept off the shelves by the Challenge Oversight Committee were challenged by Bruce Friedman, a conservative activist who moved to Clay County from New York in May 2021. Friedman compiled "a list of over 3,600 titles" that he said had "concerning content."
Popular Information obtained dozens of Friedman's challenge forms from Florida Freedom to Read, which acquired the documents through public information requests. Friedman, and a few others he recruited to assist him, filled out these forms identically. The reason for each request is to "PROTECT CHILDREN," the objectionable material is "INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT," and the impact of a student using the material is "DAMAGED SOULS." The answer to most other questions is "N/A."
Friedman is the president and founder of the Florida chapter of No Left Turn in Education, a right-wing educational group. No Left Turn in Education was founded in 2020 by Elana Yaron Fishbein. Fishbein says there are evil forces focused on "getting to our kids, brainwashing them, indoctrinating them, and making them [a] brownshirt." Friedman told Popular Information last year that he learned about Fishbein when she appeared on Tucker Carlson's show.
posted by toastyk at 10:02 AM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
Virtually all of the books kept off the shelves by the Challenge Oversight Committee were challenged by Bruce Friedman, a conservative activist who moved to Clay County from New York in May 2021. Friedman compiled "a list of over 3,600 titles" that he said had "concerning content."
Popular Information obtained dozens of Friedman's challenge forms from Florida Freedom to Read, which acquired the documents through public information requests. Friedman, and a few others he recruited to assist him, filled out these forms identically. The reason for each request is to "PROTECT CHILDREN," the objectionable material is "INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT," and the impact of a student using the material is "DAMAGED SOULS." The answer to most other questions is "N/A."
Friedman is the president and founder of the Florida chapter of No Left Turn in Education, a right-wing educational group. No Left Turn in Education was founded in 2020 by Elana Yaron Fishbein. Fishbein says there are evil forces focused on "getting to our kids, brainwashing them, indoctrinating them, and making them [a] brownshirt." Friedman told Popular Information last year that he learned about Fishbein when she appeared on Tucker Carlson's show.
posted by toastyk at 10:02 AM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
There's also some coordination between the various chapters of Moms for Liberty (GLAAD, Media Matters).
posted by box at 10:08 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by box at 10:08 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
A report in the Anchorage Daily News says that "Let's Talk About It", the same title that was challenged here in Ketchikan (previously) and was also under attack in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough (previously), is now being challenged in Anchorage.
According to the ADN article, the person filing the challenge against the book is a former chief of staff for conservative Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson whom Mayor Bronson attempted unsuccessfully to install as library director.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:08 AM on April 25, 2023
According to the ADN article, the person filing the challenge against the book is a former chief of staff for conservative Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson whom Mayor Bronson attempted unsuccessfully to install as library director.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:08 AM on April 25, 2023
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