Book Bans

Reading out of context

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Across America School Board meetings have become contentious environments, where extremist groups express their bigotry against marginalized people, be it their race, ethnicity, gender identity or religion. One active and well entrenched group in Bucks County is—

Woke Pennsylvania:

“a grass roots organization working to reclaim our schools”.

This group planned to read sexually explicit passages at the March 8 Central Bucks School Board Meeting. The passages, lifted from LGBTQ published books—can be found on the woke website. Public comments limited to 3 minutes, are scheduled at the top of the meeting’s agenda.

“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, Nobel Laurate and recipient of numerous literary honors, is one of the books on the Woke website. I decided to attend and read a selection from this her first novel, published in 1970. Three of her novels and one of her nonfiction books snuggle on my bookshelf. “The Bluest Eye” isn’t among my four; however, a dear friend lent me her copy.

Morrison’s words sing across the page. When reading the sentences, I’m in awe of the story she weaves. I settled on a passage from the first few pages where words always entice a reader to turn the pages until reaching The End.

Thirty-eight people registered to speak. The room was full. I recognized the usual suspects—attendees from the previous four meetings. As each strode to the dais, they announced the title then filled with indignation, read the excerpt. Then they demanded the book “… be removed from the school library”.

While waiting my turn, I scanned the room, wondering how many of this vociferous crowd had ever voted prior to the 2021 school board elections. The crowd is also displeased with some of the sitting board members, calling out their names demanding they resign.  A speaker from an extremist political action committee—Back to School PA—furiously waved a glossy 4-page document, exclaiming that ‘dark money!’ helped elect 3 Democrats to the board.

(If you visit the Central Bucks School District website, there is a link to a recording of the February 8 meeting. The public comments begin at 30.00 minutes.)

There were speakers advocating for the Library Bill of Rights—American Library Association policies for school libraries as well as several others who opposed removing books from school libraries. A retired teacher—Speaker #16 and recorded at 1.17.15–spoke eloquently how books help some children “… make sense of their lives”.

I remember when a handful of people would attend these meetings. The Covid virus along with decisions to open or close schools and policies regarding masked or no masked students, pushed any concerns about education to the back of the room. Now, the book banners are in Bucks County and stealing all the oxygen out of the air.

The next Central Bucks School Board at 70 Weldon Drive, Doylestown, is scheduled Tuesday, April 12, at 7 pm.

Reading in the Time of COVID

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During the worst months of the COVID lockdown, I’d read five non-fiction books focused on the African American experience. My first was Historian David W. Blight’s biography–Frederick Douglass Profit of Freedom; then two books written by Isabel Wilkerson–Caste and The Warmth Of Other Suns; then the autobiography Becoming by Michelle Obama; and lastly Annette Gordon-Reed’s Juneteenth.

I finished reading the last of the five books just as the hottest educational topic, Critical Race Theory (CRT) became the lightning rod for attendees screaming at school board meetings. To be clear, this is the meaning of CRITICAL RACE THEORY (CRT):  A curriculum designed for discussion at the university level by law students.

Extremists on the right successfully grabbed CRT and reduced it to a lesson that is taught to students from elementary to high school. Not True.

It didn’t stop there. A school board representing students in York, Pennsylvania announced their banning of nearly 50 books for grades K through Senior High. Numerous books on this list were written by African Americans or other people of color—some from outside America. Students’ protests were successful in forcing the York School Board to revisit their decision.

The five non-fiction books I’d read during COVID will go on the shelves of my bookcase along with works about the Vietnam War, religion, politics, women, government, science, Native Americans, biographies, children’s books, fiction and metaphysics. Among this eclectic assortment of books are seven authors whose writings have been banned: William Styron, John Steinbeck, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, W.E.B. DuBois, J.K. Rowling and Vladimir Nabokov.

One other slim but powerful book on my shelf is the image below. Eleven published writers associated with PEN International (Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, and Novelists). As noted on the front cover, “Burn This Book is a collection of essays that explore the meaning of censorship and the power of literature to inform the way we see the world, and ourselves.”

Edited by and with an introduction by Toni Morrison.

My next post will include a review of Historian David W. Blight’s award-winning biography–Frederick Douglass Prophet of Freedom. I hope to counter the ignorance about African American history often expressed by those who say–“Black people need to move on… stop talking about the past.”