Book banning

About

Book banning is a tool used by powermongers to build their power-base through rage farming and the arbitrary exercise of authority. The methodolgy involves pretending to be outraged that one or more books are being made available to children in schools or public libraries.

The banner (the individual or group advocating for the banning) will generally choose works of great cultural significance but slightly outside the mainstream -- typically dealing with themes of oppression, minority representation, intersectionality, and other anti-authoritarian causes -- attributes known for generating community polarization, as authoritarian followers will reflexively pile on the "against" side when those causes are mentioned, while anti-authoritarians will fight to keep the books available due to their importance. The banner will typically find one or more excuses (not necessarily true) for finding the books "inappropriate"; these excuses are generally designed to further trigger authoritarian-follower outrage and support.

Book banning is closely related to efforts to constrain what subjects teachers may cover.

Events

• 2022-02-02 A Texas parent demanded that "Michelle Obama: Political Icon (by Heather E. Schwartz) be removed from school libraries.
  • (2022.02.02) Insider: A Texas parent demanded a Michelle Obama biography be pulled from schools because they said it would make white girls feel 'ashamed' «The Katy, Texas, parent took issue with a book titled "Michelle Obama: Political Icon" by Heather E. Schwartz, saying it "unfairly" depicted Trump "as a bully"». In other words, she didn't like it because it was accurate and challenged her to rethink her allegiance.
  • (2022.02.04) TheHill: Texas school district won't remove Michelle Obama biography after parent complaint «"The inquiry cited was submitted by one parent of the over 89,500 children the school district serves," Katy ISD Communications Manager Maria Corrales DiPetta wrote in an email. "Contrary to suggestive media reports, the book was never considered for removal, nor removed at any point, from District libraries."»
• 2022-01-10 Maus ban: The McMinn County School board in Tennessee voted 10-0 to ban the use of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Maus from the school’s eighth-grade curriculum, citing a number of transparently silly excuses in justification.

Links

to file

• 2022-03-03 Tennessee hearing on book bans goes completely sideways: the wingnuts are in charge, there is cause for alarm (TN HB 1944)
• 2022-02-22 Big majorities reject book bans - CBS News poll
• 2022-02-17 How the new banned books panic fits into America's history of school censorship
• 2022-02-01
  • NBC: Here are 50 books Texas parents want banned from school libraries
  • NBC: Banned: Books on race and sexuality are disappearing from Texas schools in record numbers «Hundreds of titles have been pulled from libraries across the state for review, sometimes over the objections of school librarians, several of whom told NBC News they face increasingly hostile work environments and mounting pressure to pre-emptively pull books that might draw complaints.» (discussion: Nextdoor)
  • DKos: How the "Moral Panic" of Critical Race Theory Morphed Into a Book-Banning Frenzy «Moral panics, when driven by politcians, are usually just tools. This CRT moral panic is a tool being used by a coalition of interests to achieve their own goals, none of which have anything to do with teaching or not-teaching the history of race in America.»
• 2022-01-31
  • NC school district says it will keep LGBTQ+ books in library despite parent complaints
  • North Carolina superintendent abruptly removes MLK-themed novel from 10th grade class
• 2022-01-26 IW: The Fight to Ban Books is Once Again Raging in Wake County Public Schools and Libraries
• 2021-12-09 Vice: You Should Go Read All 400 Books Texas Just Removed—They’re Awesome: title may be misleading; article states only one book "preemptively removed", while others are flagged for review.