Thread by @ashleyhopeperez

When it comes to school book bans, we need a powerful community response that puts students first and backs up teachers and librarians. That response starts with a clear understanding of what is happening. Here's what I see going on as of 12/4/21.

Attacks on youth access to books in schools often use misleading terms like “pornographic,” “inappropriate,” “controversial,” & “divisive” to describe books by or about non-white or non-dominant people, &/or that address experiences such as sexual assault or police brutality.

The scope of these attacks varies from 1 book to TX State Rep Kraus’s bogus interrogation of school districts about whether 850 allegedly problematic books are in their libraries. (Kraus's list is a sloppy combo of keyword searches like "LGBTQ" & "race.")

In conservative media, reporting on book challenges and investigations often presents them as credible. The goal: reinforcing suspicions already being stoked by anti-CRT efforts and cultivating the (false) impression that vaults of pornography exist in school libraries.

(Here's the Kraus list, with analysis that reveals both how haphazard it is as well as how obvious the political motivations are: bookriot.com/texas-book-ban…)

The use of the term “pornographic” by those attacking YA literature is especially disingenuous given that the material in the books under attack is comparable to what has long been included in high school library collections.

Sexual content as part of a complex literary whole is not pornographic (but no point in arguing with folks on whom complexity is lost, trust me. @ShaunieDarko & many other of us authors have tried).

There is a conspicuous lack of concern among book banners about the most common source of sexual content in school libraries: the thousands of YA books about straight white kids. They also seem unconcerned about this content in the Bible... or in Shakespeare or Chaucer.

Here's the core issue that every parent & school leader should care about: the recent attacks on diverse, relevant, complex literature in schools are, at bottom, a PROXY WAR ON STUDENTS who share the marginalized identities represented in the challenged books.

These proxy wars cause collateral damage. The casualties are our kids. Let me lay out 3 main ways that attacks on books harm learners.

1. When they attack books that center people with LGBTQ or non-white or non-dominant identities, parents broadcast the message that stories about "these people" are not fit for school, impoverishing the range of representations available to teens.

2. These attacks on diverse books imply that LGBTQ or non-white or non-dominant students' very presence in schools is controversial—just like the presence of the books branded as unfit for school libraries.

Now, these two harms occur the minute parents begin publicly maligning the books in question. But a third harm is still more concerning, both because it is preventable and because it lends these attacks an unearned appearance of legitimacy.

3. The third harm occurs when school boards disregard their own content review policies & remove books on the sole basis of parent complaints. This wrongly elevates the questionable judgment of a handful of parents over the training of librarians--& above the needs of students.

When school boards let a handful of loud parents decide what everyone's kids may read, they essentially endorse the disenfranchisement of already marginalized students.

The greatest threat posed by these book banning efforts is not the actual removals of books like OUT OF DARKNESS. It's the broader chilling effect in schools, the silent ripple of "soft" censorship or self-censorship by students, teachers, librarians.

A librarian aware that their every book order is being reviewed by “Moms 4 Liberty” may simply opt not to order the next lesbian love story for the romance section or may pass over a guide to puberty—even when the materials are highly recommended by professional journals.

The relentless theatrics in school board meetings attempt to bypass existing procedures for formal content challenges, the right-wing-funded public records requests ("every book order since 2000") attempt to exhaust public school resources & wear down leaders.

But the conservative long game is to make these efforts unnecessary via self-censorship: for school leaders to ask librarians to pull “problem” materials quietly, unofficially, in hopes of avoiding controversy; for educators to skip the texts that raise the difficult questions.

With increased efforts to quash inclusive pedagogies and honest history in classrooms, students’ VOLUNTARY access to rich, relevant, and diverse books in school libraries is more essential than ever.

So what can we do? Here are some thoughts & resources.

1. Reach as far into the "middle" as you can. Try talking to the people you know who may not be as fired up about youth access to literature but who genuinely care about kids and education.

Help folks in the middle see what is being TAKEN AWAY. Even if they don't think their kid needs X book, the issue may become real to them if you can capture what it means to someone else--and what not having it might mean. (Follow @FReadomFighters & #freadom for good examples.)

2. Consult and pass around resources that frame the issues & provide talking points. (Don't wait until you're up to your nose in a challenge.) Here are some tips from @ncacensorship (Strategies for LGBTQ texts can be adapted to respond to other attacks). ncac.org/resource/defen…

A resource to help educators and their allies respond to book challenges and preserve an environment in which ideas are exchanged freely: ncac.org/resource/educa…

Use @veronikellymars & @bookriot's guide for fighting bans--please esp. consider writing letters to school leaders w/ support for librarians & kids' right to read. (It takes 20 sane, grateful voices to match the volume of 1 hostile, uninformed voice.) bookriot.com/how-to-fight-b…

3. Show up at your school board mtg. Consider making public comment about the value of youth access to diverse books. Let kids know that they have a right to speak, too. Here's inspiration from @NKCSchools students (their speeches start at 28:15).

4. Take a list of challenged/banned books to the public library & ask about availability--could extra copies be purchased? What about displays to help teens find what has gone missing from their schools?

5. Finally, know your stand. Repeat it internally when you are in hostile spaces, when you feel exhausted or afraid.

My stand is for EVERY student's right to read.
My stand is for telling the stories that haven't been told.
My stand is for my kids.
My stand is for your kids.

(I initially shared many of these ideas in a recent @PENamerica roundtable. A wide range of perspectives represented...)