Local government book ban now hits 26 US states

April 30, 2022

Robert

“When I was growing up, everyone in the stories was white, in plots that made no sense to me,” says photographer and writer Susan Kuklin, 81. Throughout her career, she has sought to combat the lack of diversity by producing books with the story of prejudiced people, such as AIDS victims in the 1980s, undocumented immigrants and young people who attempted suicide.

In 2014, she edited “Beyond Magenta” with profiles of trans teenagers. After the publication, she received at least six messages from young readers telling that they had thought about killing themselves, but they felt better to discover that they were not the only ones going through that experience. The work, however, led Kuklin to an unexpected list: the most banned works in US schools and libraries.

A study by Pen America, an organization that defends freedom of expression, pointed out that actions to block books in schools and public libraries were carried out by local authorities in at least 26 of the 50 states in the country in the last year. Between July 2021 and March 2022, there were 1,586 cases. The list includes cases of removal of works from libraries and bans on them being cited in classrooms.

“There have always been localized efforts against a book that a student took home and their parents didn’t like. There are channels in schools for parents to complain and the complaint to be discussed. What we see now is something different: a broad movement in which the same books are being targeted in several different states,” says Jonathan Friedman, director of Pen America and one of the authors of the study.

“In many cases, people making complaints are seeing snippets on the internet and being disgusted that the works are in school libraries, even though their children haven’t had access to them.”

Supporters of the vetoes say they want to spare children from content they consider pornographic or that can generate social division, such as works that discuss racism, as they believe that they would harm development. By this logic, it is as if, when coming into contact with materials that discuss gender issues, students are encouraged to decide on a transition.

One point that bothers conservatives is that some books on LGBTQIA+ issues, for example, are comics, which could attract the interest of children — although the works carry the warning that they are suitable for students from high school. This is the case of “Genderqueer: A Memoir”, the most banned title in the country, according to the Pen America list, which discusses situations involving sexuality and features non-explicit, albeit suggestive, drawings.

Maia Kobabe, who produced “Genderqueer”, said in an article that contact with books was crucial to understanding who she was. Kobabe discovered that he was bisexual in his teens and later came to understand that he was a non-binary person. “Removing or restricting queer books is like cutting a lifeline for young queer people, who may not even know what terms to Google to learn more about their identities, bodies and health,” she wrote. Her editor told Sheet that Kobabe is in a period without giving interviews.

The anti-book movement was embraced by several conservative politicians. In October, for example, Republican Representative Matt Krause of Texas asked schools whether they had any works from a list of 850 that he believed could “make students feel uncomfortable, guilty, or distressed because of your color or sex”.

Krause had planned to run for state attorney general, but ended up withdrawing the candidacy after the confusion generated by his book list. When in doubt about what to do, many schools ended up withdrawing the works cited by the deputy from circulation.

At the same time, Governor Greg Abbott, also a Republican, ordered an investigation to see if children were having access to books with pornographic content. “Parents have the right to protect their children from obscene content used in schools. They are certain that schools should not provide pornographic or obscene material to students,” he said.

In early April, Florida officials rejected math textbooks for citing racial issues. One of the banned works proposed calculation exercises based on a graph on the perception of prejudice in society.

On Wednesday, the Tennessee Legislature passed a law that requires schools to submit their book lists for approval by a state committee, which may be controlled by only one party.

In the plenary debate, Republican Jerry Sexton was asked what he intends to do with the banned titles. “I have no idea, but I would burn them.” Afterwards, he tried to soften and said he does not intend to be part of the book selection committee. “We’re not banning books, we’re taking them out of the library.”

President Joe Biden the same day criticized conservatives. “There are a lot of politicians trying to score points by trying to ban books, even math books,” he said at an event honoring teachers. “Did you think you’d have to worry about books being burned because they don’t fit into someone’s political agenda?”

There will be elections in 36 US states in November, in addition to the vote to renew Congress, and parental control over school content is expected to be an ongoing theme. Last year, Republican Glenn Youngkin was elected governor of Virginia after a campaign in which he promised to give family members more power over education and prevent access to books deemed inappropriate.

On the other hand, cities and states under Democratic command seek to expand access to books on topics such as feminism, racism, immigration and LGBT rights. In Washington libraries, for example, it is common to see exhibitions on these topics, with emphasis on titles that debate issues such as female empowerment and the fight against discrimination against black people.

In the American capital, “Genderqueer: A Memoir” is difficult to find in public libraries for reasons other than banning: there are only eight copies available and more than 20 reservation requests.

In response to the wave of vetoes across the country, the network of libraries in Brooklyn, New York, launched a campaign so that teenagers across the country can make virtual cards, borrow ebooks from their collection and read them virtually. Thus, they will be able to escape local vetoes. “We cannot stand by while books rejected by some are removed from libraries for all. Our campaign will be an antidote to censorship,” Linda Johnson, president of the network, said in announcing the action.

In the midst of political clashes, authors feel frustrated. “It’s kind of ironic to me, because the reason for writing these books was to seek inclusivity and celebrate everything we have in common. And it turned the opposite, due to a movement that wants to keep people divided and angry, so some can stay in power. It’s very difficult to work under these circumstances,” says Kuklin of “Beyond Magenta.”

She, who is also a photographer, says that writers are debating how to deal with the new scenario — in which self-censorship is also already present. She recently published a book about immigrant teenagers in the US. “We took their names and their pictures, which as a photographer I say was very difficult to do. But we had to protect them from political tensions. And we censored ourselves.”