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Jonathan Friedman 📚 Profile picture
@jonfreadom
Dec 13, 2022 • 9 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X
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Banned book of the day is "And Tango Makes Three" by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell.

With its true story of 2 male penguins raising a baby, it's been targeted for years. But we @PENamerica are seeing an uptick in efforts to ban it across FL... #FreeTheBooks Image
In Lake County. the district banned the book specifically b/c of the "Don't Say Gay" law. Note: the law bans "classroom instruction" on gender and sexuality, not library books. No matter. 🤷‍♂️ h/t @FLFreedomRead
In Escambia, FL, Tango was one of 100+ books challenged by a teacher, which resulted in it going on backroom shelves for a time and requiring a parental permission slip. The objection? "LGBTQ agenda using penguins", and some key excerpts:
🐧🏳️‍🌈🐧 pnj.com/story/news/loc… ImageImage
Schools in Escambia reviewed the book, and here's some of what they said -- aiming to influence the district's review. One referenced a specific prohibition in Escambia on reading any LGBTQ books aloud. ! ImageImage
Turns out Tango was *also* on a list of 58 titles called "pornographic" and circulated to districts across FL this year by the 'FL Citizens Alliance'. Some put it under review, pulled, or banned outright. Here's Lee County:

[Should go without saying, these penguins are not porn] Image
In Collier, Tango was slapped with a warning label - an "advisory notice to parents" that says "some" find it "unsuitable". Why? Simply b/c it was on this list of 58 books from FLCA. See the pattern? pen.org/press-release/… Image
In Walton, superintendent got the FLCA list & ordered all 58 books removed "for review". That was in April. But seems the review hasn't started. Also turns out Tango and many books weren't *on* their library shelves. They were ordered removed anyways. pen.org/book-banning-i…
FLCA is just one of many groups that have driven the movement to ban books for the last year, profiled in @nytimes this week. What's happening with Tango is a good illustration of how a small group is having outsized impact on what all students can read 📚nytimes.com/2022/12/12/boo…
One more for good measure? The Highlands school board *also* removed Tango "for review" this summer, and it doesn't appear yet back on shelves. It was one of a bunch that were pulled (grayed, below). The list... looks like the one from FLCA... again.
credit: @FLFreedomRead Image

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More from @jonfreadom

Jonathan Friedman 📚 Profile picture
Dec 8, 2023
Oh wow. The Wharton Board of Advisors @Penn has proposed a resolution to punish any student or faculty member that uses hate speech or celebrates murder or genocide. The proposed resolution is vague, and threatens to ban wide swaths of speech. /1 axios.com/2023/12/08/pen…
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I understand the impulse. Universities must take hate seriously. But this proposal would be unenforceable & likely backfire against what it aims to achieve.

This is the risk in a fraught political moment -- that institutions overreact and adopt policies that chill speech /2
Not hard to contemplate a range of scenarios that would confound and complicate enforcement.
- Could educating about abortion be categorized as advocating for murder by critics?
- How would an admin determine when a word is “veiled” hate speech vs just political provocation? /3
Read 6 tweets
Jonathan Friedman 📚 Profile picture
Sep 14, 2023
I wish we saw this more often. The president of Princeton has responded with a resounding defense of academic freedom, after a Congressman called for the University to intervene in a prof's choice of reading materials for a course. 👇 /1
president.princeton.edu/blogs/response…


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This is the latest chapter in a dust-up that began in Aug over calls to ban the book 'The Right to Maim' from a course syllabus for being allegedly anti-Semitic. Even Israel's minister of diaspora affairs wrote Princeton about it. The Univ has steadfastly supported the prof. /2
The letter from Princeton president Eisgruber provides a clear summary of how academic freedom works, how books get selected for courses. And it emphasizes that at universities-- "controversies must be addressed through deliberation and debate, not administrative fiat." Yes. /3
Read 6 tweets
Jonathan Friedman 📚 Profile picture
Jul 19, 2023
Among the latest crop of supposedly controversial books that need banning in Florida... Image
One person has filed over 700 book challenges in Clay County, Fl, succeeding in getting all kinds of books temporarily & permanently banned. This is the first time I've seen 'Arthur' on one of these lists. @Scholastic
Of course, this comes as FL schools are suspending access to Shakespeare, or being called on to ban the Bible urgently. So, was it only a matter of time 'til they came for Arthur??

The same banner wants to remove 'It' by @StephenKing and Sophie's Choice, among others.
Read 4 tweets
Jonathan Friedman 📚 Profile picture
May 26, 2023
Just to be clear: the Miami Dade district that claims @TheAmandaGorman's The Hill We Climb hasn't been banned & is accessible to all students... has also clarified (when you read the fine print) that students must pass a reading test to read it. /1 washingtonpost.com/education/2023… Image
Librarians will tell you: this is an impediment to students' voluntary inquiry. The decision to place it on a middle school shelf isn't just for guidance as to age-related content. It is to bar students from freely picking it up. This makes the lack of a clear basis for ... /2
that decision all the more problematic. This was not the decision of librarians/educators who put the book in the school as a primary source in the first place. This was a reaction to an outlandish complaint, in the midst of extreme pressure to restrict books about racism /3
Read 7 tweets
Jonathan Friedman 📚 Profile picture
Apr 26, 2023
Yikes. A year after Central York school district in PA was at the center of a book ban crusade, here it is again, making questionable choices.

As they did last year, students are protesting ongoing book bans in the district-- now they feel intimidated /1 yorkdispatch.com/story/news/edu…
On Friday, during school hours, five students were called into a mtg with the superintendent & district leaders where they were "harangued" and spoken to "sternly"... for what?

Apparently for speaking publicly about the district and the bans. /2
What did the students do? Apparently they were reprimanded for talking to the press earlier last week -- for expressing frustration with the district's book bans, and making plans to protest.

Last I checked, those are all, um... students' rights /3 yorkdispatch.com/story/news/edu…
Read 8 tweets
Jonathan Friedman 📚 Profile picture
Apr 26, 2023
Still watching what's going on @ NEW COLLEGE of Florida? Next board meeting is today at 2pm. What will DeSantis allies installed atop the college do next? Faculty & students unsure what will come for tenure, academic courses.
There's numerous threads to watch 👀 🧵
2. Among other issues... trustees today will vote on tenure for 5 faculty who have already been approved by every academic body. Interim president Corcoran has directed them to deny or defer-- an unusual directive that hints at political motives tampabay.com/news/education…
3. These faculty were previously directed to drop out of applying for tenure, with the threat that they'd be denied if they didn't. This is all clearly undermining the integrity of academic freedom, perhaps as is intended. Our full statement @PENamerica
pen.org/press-release/…
Read 8 tweets

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