Episode 4: Is book banning the new book burning?

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Foreign welcome to another episode of K12 Education Untangled. My name is Dr. Kim Fields, education researcher and advocate and I'm the host of this podcast. In today's episode I will be highlighting some of the controversies surrounding curriculum restrictions, better known as book banning. Keeping up with curriculum requirements and changes for your children who are in public school system can be a daunting task. Reviewing the reading lists and ensuring books help to expand your child's understanding of the world can be overwhelming is just one more thing to manage, one more thing to try to be aware of and stay on top of. Once again, the politicalization of education is in the spotlight. This time it's about curriculum restrictions that affect children of color. Let's dive into the research to find out what it revealed about how this became a current issue and and why it's important to stay informed about it. I'll then translate the findings into practical application, what you can do to make an informed decision as to where you stand on book banning and how it affects the educational learning experiences for your child. Book banning and censorship have been a topic of research since the 1940s and 50s. There are 13,452 public school districts in America with more than 50 million students. 2 million students in 86 school districts across the country have had their access to books restricted because of book bans in the 20212022 school year. According to a new report, a free speech advocacy organization called PEN America. In March of this year 2022, Pen America received a $500,000 donation, which is to be dispersed over the next five years in increments of $100,000 each year from Penguin Random House in order to fight book bans. More than 1300 books have been banned or over the last six months, according to evidence PEN America has collected. Book bans are the most recent iteration of the backlash against equity and diversity efforts in school. Often mischaracterized as critical race theory, these book bans are a version of educational gag orders, which are bans through state or local policy on curriculum dealing with topics such as race and racial justice in the history of slavery. Therefore, lawmakers across the country are using book bands as a political tool. This just further exacerbates the genuine concerns that parents have about what's happening in schools and the disruption to education that occurred during the pandemic. The book bans seem to center specifically on books which with LBGTQ characters and people of color or about race and racism. The banning of a single book can mean anything from a single copy being pulled to hundreds of copies being pulled from libraries or classrooms. This points to the deliberate politicalization of books. Most of the books being banned are fiction, a total of 819 titles. Texas has the largest number of districts in acting bans, with 713 titles being banned in 16 districts across the state. Comparatively, Pennsylvania and Florida have also seen 456 and 204 book bans, respectively. The district with the most banned books is the Central York School School District in Pennsylvania, where 441 books were banned. Some of the books commonly banned include Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, which has been banned 16 times out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez, banned 16 times the Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, banned 2012 times and Maya Kababi's genderqueer, A Memoir, which was removed from school libraries or classrooms at least 30 times. By the way, the Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison is not the first time one of her books has been banned. Several years ago, Beloved was another one of her books that had been banned. Books that had protagonists of color made up of a significant number of banned books nationwide, including 467 titles, or about 41% of all book bans. Books about race and racism were commonly banned, according to more than one researcher, and this accounted for more than a fifth of all bans, about 22%, or 247 books about race and racism. Primarily in the United States, both fiction and non fiction titles have been banned. This includes frequently banned books such as the ones that I previously mentioned earlier by Perez out of Darkness, a book that's about a relationship between a teenage Mexican American girl, a teenage African American boy in the 1930s in New London, Texas. Other books about racism that have been banned include how to Be an Anti Racist by Ibram Kendi, within which the author proposes ways to fight systemic racism. Another book that seems to be on the banned list is Dear Martin by Nic Stone, which is a novel about a black teenager writing letters to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. To make sense of the racial injustices they experienced. Books by black authors are increasingly being banned as many critics relate these books to the teaching of critical race theory. Although these books and works have nothing to do with critical race theory, unfortunately the assumption is that everything black is critical race theory. One example of this would be the Hate U Give, which is a young adult novel about the aftermath of a police officer killing a black teenager. Other books by black authors that are part of the most challenged books of 2020 include Brown Girl Dreaming Black by Jacqueline Woodson and the Story of Ruby Bridges, a picture book that tells a true story of a six year old black girl who integrated a white only school. Just 4% of the books that have been banned have been the result of parents or community members filing formal challenges to library and classroom materials. The vast majority of initiated book bans has been the decision by school administrators or board members after following comments by the community and public hearings. In some cases, books were removed from reading lists based on a single parent's complaint. Some states, especially Florida, banned books that seem to address critical race theory, social emotional learning, culturally responsive teaching and the Common Core. These books were banned because the language in the books seemed to differ from the personal perspectives of the reviewer, not that they violated any state mandated laws. For many years now, educators have pushed more diverse books in the classroom and school libraries, and they pushed these because they felt that it's important for children of color to see themselves reflected in the pages. Yet some experts worry that the current debates over how race is addressed in schools may discourage certain stories from being taught. The flip side of this coin is that some books, like To Kill a Mockingbird and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn have been challenged because of the problematic portrayals they provide of black people. This book banning has even extended to the digital world in that legislation has been proposed that would target online library databases and library management technology from which students can access information online. Bills have already been enacted in Utah and Tennessee and are on the verge of becoming law in Oklahoma and Minnesota. Specifically, these bills require databases to remove and block student access to material that is obscene, pornographic, sexually exploitive of children or harmful to minors. The major database Companies like ProQuest, GAIL, EBSCO Information Services and Follett School Solutions say they are tracking all this legislation, but they don't have any plans to make changes to their services. The fact is that these new laws may be unnecessary because federal law protection and Internet privacy laws were passed decades ago and these already require database companies to ensure their materials are age appropriate, which these companies have done pretty successfully for at least 25 years. Many educators worry that that the real purpose of these laws is simply to justify blocking articles and books that parents dislike. It seems that these laws may be part of a larger campaign to alter nearly every aspect of the way American public schools function because these laws compound laws that are either being proposed or have already been passed across the country that limit what teachers can teach about race, racism, history, sex and gender identity. The school library databases are vital for students who are trying to learn about the world and gain data processing skills that they'll need in order to function in the information rich 21st century. Concern of what students can view online at school dates back to 2000 when President Clinton signed into law the Children's Internet Protection act, or sepa. It requires that schools receiving federal technology funding equip their computers with filters that prevent students from viewing Internet pornography or any content that is obscene or considered harmful to minors. SEPA, in addition to the 1974 Educational Family Rights and Privacy act, also known as FERPA, which in part protects students privacy online, several years ago forced library database providers to exclude pornographic or otherwise inappropriate content. On a more personal note, the lawsuits have begun. Two students have partnered with the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, suing the school district over eight books that were pulled from shelves of their school district libraries. The eight banned books were about race, gender and marginalized communities. By way of the law, the First Amendment protects the right to share ideas, including the right of people to receive information and knowledge. The ACLU of Missouri filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of Missouri on February 15, 2022 on behalf of two students by and through their parents. The banned books include some of the ones that I've already mentioned, including the Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, and Invisible Girl by Lisa jewell. At least 10% of of the students enrolled in the Wentzville School District in Missouri are not white, although the school board is 100% white. Like most parents, you want to support your children on their educational and self development journey. It is a balancing act of how best to nurture and protect your kids in the midst of being impacted by racial, cultural and gender assaults on their identities. Here are some strategies to practically fight book bans in your school district. Find parental training groups that teach parents how to lobby school member and the board members as well as school leaders. One national advocacy network is the Red Wine and Blue, which offers tips on how to rally parents to speak up at public school board meetings and this group and others like it may be available in your part of the country. 2 Communicate directly with school officials about speaking out against the book bands and three make banned books more widely available by starting book clubs where you read the banned books with your children or by creating a diversity book drive. Here are today's takeaways. Books should be both windows and mirrors, and they should expose readers to new worlds and perspectives while also reflecting their own experiences. Books are designed to expand our ideas and thoughts, to engage us in debate and an exchange of ideas. Ideas Students are more likely to want to read books they can relate to. If the goal is to create readers who want to read and find reading a source of affirmation, then the materials that are available to them should be as expansive as possible. The status quo is a quite comfortable position. There are people who don't want to be uncomfortable. They don't want to have to turn and face and confront the history of this country. However, children are aware of race and I think it's the responsibility of educators and teachers to make classrooms a place where crucial conversations can take place and the discourse and the dialogue that's needed is taught so the young people are broadly educated. Before going out into the world, it's important to remember that banning books doesn't keep a teenager from reading them. In fact, they become highly sought after as well as more attractive just because they're on the banned book list. Be aware of the COVID agendas of certain groups who insist on pushing their agenda on the entire population. I think that children naturally grow into an awareness of gender and or sexual identity as they mature. There's no need to to provide books and resources on the framing of certain gender or sexual identity issues at a young age. Certainly by the time the child is in middle school, they are aware of their sense of self without forcing the issue. I think the books that address LBGTQ subject matter can certainly be available for children in this type of reading. However, I don't think that kids should be required to read books of this nature as part of the K5 public school curriculum. If parents want their children to read books of this nature, they're certainly free to acquire or purchase these books for their children's personal reading. On the other hand, books about race, culture, or children of color should not be banned because we live in a diverse society founded upon the social construct of race. In this country, parents should speak up against the banning of books about children of color. Unfortunately, censorship and book banning will eventually work because too many teachers and leaders do not feel efficacious enough to speak up about censoring bodies and speak against those censoring bodies because they love their jobs too much. An article by Emily Knox in the April 2020 edition of the Phi Delta Kappan Journal highlighted that the efforts to remove certain books from Schools are rooted in a strong belief in the power of books to introduce people to new ideas and change their minds. Those that challenge books and in fact propose to ban certain books understand the power of books, and it is this belief that motivates them their actions. The practice of censorship is a complex phenomenon that is intimately related to how people interpret certain texts. Many of the people who have proposed banning certain books haven't even read the book in its entirety. One of the many reasons why some books are protested against is because some banned books often raise topics that don't provide any easy answers, such as addressing racism, different cultures, dealing with physical violence, etc. Banned books are often more complex, surprising, and confounding. They seem to shake up certain expectations, challenging the norms, and raise questions that require self reflection. Teachers should give students many books to read because each book reveals something that gets a person closer to the truth, not because one particular book contains all truths. When teachers adopt a more expansive idea of truth, it's easier to provide clear justification for including certain books in the curriculum. Each book is only one perspective out of many, not the final answer. That's why it's important for students to get a broad understanding of certain topics and perspectives perspectives so they can draw their own analysis through the process of critical thinking. The development of changing a person through education is exactly what curriculum sensors are trying to control when they propose banning books in schools and public libraries. Finally, let's think about this. Learning cannot be frictionless. Growth demands productive struggle. If something doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you. Anti intellectualism is a threat to education. If this is the type of subject matter and discussion that resonates with you, please subscribe to my podcast on whatever service you're listening to this Also, I'd love to hear from you. So please leave me a comment or a review and be sure to share this episode with anyone you think would find it valuable. Tell your friends, family and community about my podcast. Thanks for listening today. I hope you'll come back for more K12 educational discussions with even more exciting topics to untangle. 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