Burn This Book

[Bicycle Bill]

A book about late Afro-Puerto Rican MLB legend Roberto Clemente can't be found in the shelves of public school libraries in Florida's Duval County these days. (Duval County consists primarily of the Jacksonville, FL area)

“Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates” by Jonah Winter and Raúl Colón — and other books about Latino figures such as the late Afro-Cuban salsa singer Celia Cruz and Justice Sonia Sotomayor — are among the more than 1 million titles that have been "covered or stored and paused for student use” at the Duval County Public Schools District, according to Chief Academic Officer Paula Renfro.  School officials are in the process of determining if such books comply with state laws and can be included in school libraries.

Florida ⃥R⃥e⃥i⃥c⃥h⃥s⃥f⃥u⃥h⃥r⃥e⃥r⃥  Gov. Ron DeSantis signed laws last year that require schools to rely on "certified media specialists" (oh, yeah?  Certified in what, and by whom?) to approve which books can be integrated into classrooms.  Guidance on how that would be implemented was provided to schools in December.

Books must align with state standards such as not teach K-3 students about gender identity and sexual orientation; not teach critical race theory, which examines systemic racism in American society, in public grade schools; and not include references to pornography (using the old 'appeals to prurient interests' standards, no doubt) and discrimination, according to the school district.

In January, 52 certified media specialists for Duval started reviewing about 1.5 million book titles, Sonya Duke-Bolden, a spokesperson with the public schools district told NBC News Friday.  Close to 2,800 books have been approved by media specialists so far (which means that at that rate — roughly three thousand books a month — they should be finished with those 1.5 million titles by May of 2064).  Duke-Bolden did not say if more books were reviewed but not approved.

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[Burning Petard]

I really have trouble with CRT. I confuse it with cathode ray tube, which I strongly object to for their approximate performance and environmental impact. and Critical Republican Theories, which I almost uniformly find an abomination. Right up there with MTG -- More Toxic Gestures.

Is there some kind of historical cycle that requires some group of people to re-create Emily Litella and ban things like Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mocking Bird? Back in my day it was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Batman comics.

snailgate

[Econoline]

I really have trouble with CRT. I confuse it with cathode ray tube,

Me too!

Also:

[Bicycle Bill]

I chose the title for this thread as a sideways reference to that book.

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[Bicycle Bill]

MORE ON CONTROVERSIAL BOOKS

Each year, the American Library Association (ALA) releases their list of the book titles that are most frequently under attack by patrons who object to their content.  While not all lead to outright book bans, the list is a snapshot of the censorship issues facing libraries.

According to the ALA, 2022 has seen a sharp uptick in the number of requests to ban books: 1249, or virtually double the 729 challenges recorded in 2021.  It’s also the highest number of challenges the ALA has seen in two decades.

The titles that had people concerned in 2022:

1.  Gender Queer: A Memoir // Maia Kobabe (2019)
2.  All Boys Aren't Blue // George M. Johnson (2020)
3.  The Bluest Eye // Toni Morrison (1970)
4.  Flamer // Mike Curato (2020)
5.  Looking for Alaska // John Green (2005) (Tie)
6.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower // Stephen Chbosky (1999) (Tie)
7.  Lawn Boy // Jonathan Evison (2018)
8.  The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian // Sherman Alexie (2007)
9.  Out of Darkness // Ashley Hope Pérez (2015)
10.  A Court of Mist and Fury // Sarah J. Maas (2016) (Tie)
      Crank // Ellen Hopkins (2004) (Tie)
      Me and Earl and the Dying Girl // Jesse Andrews (2012) (Tie)
      This Book Is Gay // Juno Dawson (2014) (Tie)
      .....source: https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10

Virtually all of the titles were criticized for sexual content, and seven of the books had people objecting to their LGBTQIA+ characters.  Others, like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, are perennially challenged (in the case of Chbosky’s coming-of-age novel, “sexual content, and glorification of alcohol use and drugs” are the usual complaints.)

In an overview [PDF] of their data, the organization states that roughly 30 percent of disputes originate with parents, while another third come from other library patrons.  Political and religious groups make up 17 percent, and 15 percent come from school boards.  Both public and school libraries are affected.

The ALA also found that 90 percent of challenges were directed at more than one title — that is, one complainant usually took issue with two or more books.

Several states, including Arizona, Texas, and Missouri, have considered or passed laws banning books, though surveys by the ALA and others indicate that most respondents aren't actually in favor of restricting access to books.

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[eddieq]

I read “this book is gay” and it was excellent. As a straight guy, it helped me to demystify some of the terminology used in the community. It also gave me some perspective. I checked it out from the library at a local LGBTQ center.