The Effort To Ban Books Is Back In Texas (And Elsewhere)

The effort to ban books is back in Texas. A Republican state legislator has asked all the state's schools whether they have any books on his list of "dangerous" books -- a list that contains over 800 books. It seems that the GOP is afraid that students might stumble across the truth by reading a good book, instead of just swallowing the lies they want taught. It's shameful, and schools should ignore his ignorant request.

Here are some of Karen Attiah's thoughts on the matter in The Washington Post:

“Only the very weak-minded refuse to be influenced by literature,” wrote Cassandra Clare in her novel “Clockwork Angel.” A powerful and debilitating strain of such intellectual fragility has been sweeping across red states such as mine. Texas stands at the front lines of America’s thought wars, with books increasingly the battlefield.

Last week, state Rep. Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth), chairman of the House General Investigating Committee, sent school districts a list of more than 800 books and asked that they investigate how many copies are in their classrooms or libraries, as well as the amount of money spent on them. Krause also wants the districts to identify books or content dealing with human sexuality, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and graphic depictions of sex.

And borrowing language from the so-called anti-critical-race-theory laws recently passed in Texas and other states, Krause asked schools to report whether they have books that could make students “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex.” Districts were given until Nov. 12 to respond.

As colder weather approaches, it’s as though Krause plans to use school books to keep us all warm this winter — at the requisite 451 degrees Fahrenheit. Given our rickety power grid, I suppose torching books might tide Texans over for a while.

On a more serious note, looking at Krause’s list, it’s hard not to conjure up images of totalitarian regimes and violent groups that have gone after books throughout history, from Nazi attacks on works considered “un-German” in 1933 to al-Qaeda destroying precious manuscripts in Timbuktu. A gander at Krause’s list reveals an almost exclusive focus on race and racism, sex and sexuality, LGBT issues, abortion and — gasp — even puberty. . . .

And as to making students uncomfortable? Many of the titles were written precisely to help developing young people become more comfortable with being and feeling different — whether it be due to their race, gender or sexuality.

For now no bonfires are planned, but really none will be necessary if teachers are scared out of introducing books into classes in the first place, which one imagines is the point of this exercise. There have already been reports of teachers pulling titles preemptively to avoid controversy. . . .

It’s not hard to read between the lines. These attacks on books come as a response to the growing power that marginalized people have demonstrated recently in our public discourse. Book-banning, like the Southern Strategy of old, is an effort to harness White fears of a new, more racially equal America.

And so another cycle turns. For as long as the GOP tries to stop new generations from learning from America’s past, we will be doomed to repeat the darkest elements of it.