As conservative right-wingers are pounding its heels in the culture war of the day, the list of challenged and banned books has exploded across the country. According to the American Library Association, 1,597 individual books were noticed in 2021, More than double Numbers in 2020.
Most of the books challenged last year deal with LGBTQ or ethnic themes. Right-wing politicians and parents alike have identified themselves as independent freedom fighters who are tired of the endless censorship of the liberal media.
But the moral panic surrounding the critical race theory, and gender and sexuality, has driven this select group to carry out unprecedented attacks on freedom of speech in the service of the ongoing culture war.
Last year’s anti-book movement came in the form of attempts to remove or remove from libraries, schools and universities across the country.
When George Floyd was assassinated in May 2020, there was a time when the country seemed to be at the crossroads of racial justice. But the outpouring of support for the protesters quickly turned into a backlash.
New laws banning teachers from talking about race and racism spread across GOP-led states, and conservative activists quickly turned their attention to textbooks.
Angie Thomas’ “The Hate You Give”Published In 2017, it was about a teenage girl who was fatally shot by a police officer. Thomas’ book has been targeted by school boards and parents, who say it should be banned because it promotes “an anti-police message and a social agenda.”
It created the Library Association’s Top 10 Most Challenging Books in 2021. Late last year, the book was pulled from a Pennsylvania school following a parental complaint that the novel appeared on a list compiled by an organization called Social Justice Books.
“The organization’s goal is to compile a list of authorized books that should be used to help educators promote ‘social justice’ in the classroom.” Says one parent. “If you haven’t decoded yet … we’re talking books that promote and encourage critical race theory.”
The parents didn’t actually read the whole book, but declared it “disgusting.”
A sure sign that these allegations rarely have any merit is a weird one that came from Katie, Texas. Heather E. Schwartz wrote a children’s biography of former First Lady Michelle Obama.
A Anonymous guardian The Katie School District alleges that “Michelle Obama: Political Icon” should be pulled off the shelf because it calls Donald Trump a bully and implies that “if you sound like a white girl you should be ashamed of yourself.”
The school district has refused to remove the book.
But that doesn’t mean Texas is not leading the charge in banning books. In October, State Representative Matt Krauss announced that he was investigating 850 books in Texas schools that could “cause students to experience discomfort, guilt, pain, or any other kind of emotional distress because of their race or gender.” Krause asked schools to report if they had any such books and how much money they had spent on them.
Not for gay penguins
Some of the notable books include nonfiction history books such as Paul Ortiz’s “An African American and Latinx History of the United States” and two novels by Ta-Nehisi Quotes.
The books of race and racism alone could not make a list of the crosses. Those who focused on gender, sexuality and the LGBTQ community were also present, including “And Tango Makes ThreeA children’s book about gay penguins and their daughters.
Krauss may have included a book about gay penguins as the GOP’s fight against LGBTQ people intensified with Florida’s new “Don’t Say Gay” bill and the stigmatization of transgender people and their associates as sex predators.
Another book that made the list of the 10 most challenging is for young people. The author has tried in Juno Dawson’s “This Book Is Gay” Teach LGBTQ teens about sexual health – A very missing lesson in our country’s public education system.
In Wyoming, parents have complained about five books in a public library, including Dawson’s, for teenagers. One couple even went to the county sheriff’s office to file a criminal complaint
“We thought they would see a problem in recruiting children for sexual activity when they are not mature enough. It could be a problem in their lives, creating a problem where it shouldn’t be,” said one of the people who went to law enforcement. Dr.
Silent voice
A state prosecutor has refused to prosecute librarians.
But not facing the accusation of refusing to ban a book does not mean that the fight for libraries and schools is over.
This recurrence of the book ban is not about Michelle Obama’s biography or keeping children safe from penguins in a gay marriage. The ultimate goal is to bring out the voices of people of color and the LGBTQ community.
It is all part of a larger war against marginalized people. Every day, black people and liberals are accused of sexually abusing children for practicing critical racial theories to talk about racism or for supporting LGBTQ youth.
Consider how gay marriage and interracial marriage, two issues that have already been resolved by the Supreme Court, have recently been highlighted by prominent Republicans as Was not The settlement conservative leaders outwardly accuse liberals and corporations of daring to refuse to support pedophiles with their homosexual and transphobic laws. It is clear that the culture wars have entered a new and more deceptive stage and the banning of books has just begun.
