Book Banning

#276

60 Minutes had an excellent segment on book banning last night, focusing on a situation in South Carolina, with much attention paid to our FL friends at Moms For Liberty.

60 Minutes @60Minutes wrote: “Parents have the right to determine what their children are … allowed to read,” Geier told 60 Minutes. “But what we're having a problem with is parents that want to determine what other parents' rights are for their children to read what they want.” https://cbsn.ws/3UY8vPn

#277

Publishers condemn 'silent' censorship of books trashed at Staten Island school

Prominent publishers have sent a letter to the New York City Department of Education expressing alarm that books featuring diverse characters and subjects were discarded with the trash at a Staten Island elementary school.

“We are deeply concerned that silent or unacknowledged censorship may be going on in New York City schools,” the letter said.

Gothamist reported last week that hundreds of books about Black history, immigration and LGBTQ+ characters were placed with the trash outside P.S. 55 on Staten Island, and hundreds more were given away. Attached to many of the books were sticky notes saying “not approved.” Some of the notes highlighted apparent concerns, including “negative slant on white people” and “teenage girls having a crush on another girl in class.”

https://gothamist.com/news/publishers-c ... and-school

They pitched books on Nina Simone, Navajo Code Talkers, etc.

Starten Island.

#278

: IMG_7771.png (395.73 KiB) Viewed 503 times

https://bsky.app/profile/jensorensen.bs ... nqosbkok2q

#279

There really is no bottom.

#280

1st Amendment: freedom of "

religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or
of the press; or
the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and
to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

"

#281

Right Wing Watch @RightWingWatch wrote: Far-right broadcaster Stew Peters is taking his radicalism out from behind the camera and into the real world by organizing an "Extreme Accountability Event" that will feature a literal Nazi-esque book burning. https://bit.ly/3Kf2WoU

#282

The kids are alright. The superintendent, on the other hand, refused to even touch the book. Because he’s a little bitch. I hear.

The Handmaid's Tale Was Removed from an Idaho School Library. This Teen Handed a Copy to the Superintendent At Graduation
Annabelle Jenkins protested the removal of the graphic novel adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel earlier in the school year

An Idaho high school graduate took book censorship into her own hands at her graduation ceremony earlier this month.

During the May 23 graduation ceremony for the Idaho Fine Arts Academy, Annabelle Jenkins handed West Ada School District superintendent Derek Bub a copy of the graphic novel adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale. The book had been removed from the school district’s libraries in Dec. 2023.

According to the Idaho Statesman, the novel was one of 10 books, including Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen and Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas, to be removed from the school district. It's administration concluded that the “graphic imagery contained within [the graphic novel adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale] was not suitable for the West Ada School District student population,” per a statement from district representative Niki Scheppers.

“I just realized that I did not want to walk across that stage and get my diploma and shake the superintendent's hand,” Jenkins told KTVB. “I just did not want to do that.”

https://people.com/idaho-graduate-gives ... ip-8656592

sugar magnolia · #283

The best part is that she just dropped it at his feet.

#284

Appeals court tells Texas it cannot ban books for mentioning ‘butt and fart’
Conservative-dominated court restores books denounced by officials as ‘pornographic filth’ to school libraries

An appellate court has ruled that Texas cannot ban books from libraries simply because they mention “butt and fart” and other content which some state officials may dislike.

The fifth US circuit court of appeals issued its decision on Thursday in a 76-page majority opinion, which was written by Judge Jacques Wiener Jr and opened with a quote from American poet Walt Whitman: “The dirtiest book in all the world is the expurgated book.”

In its decision, the appellate court declared that “government actors may not remove books from a public library with the intent to deprive patrons of access to ideas with which they disagree”.

It added: “This court has declared that officials may not ‘remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the idea contained in those books and seek by their removal to prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion or other matters of opinion’.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/art ... eals-court

#285

The panel is made up of a Bush 1, Bush 2, and Trump. The Trump appointee (Duncan) dissented because of course he did. He was lead counsel for Hobby Lobby in their case against ACA.. Shocked.

sugar magnolia · #286

raison de arizona wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2024 3:27 pm
Appeals court tells Texas it cannot ban books for mentioning ‘butt and fart’
Conservative-dominated court restores books denounced by officials as ‘pornographic filth’ to school libraries

An appellate court has ruled that Texas cannot ban books from libraries simply because they mention “butt and fart” and other content which some state officials may dislike.

The fifth US circuit court of appeals issued its decision on Thursday in a 76-page majority opinion, which was written by Judge Jacques Wiener Jr and opened with a quote from American poet Walt Whitman: “The dirtiest book in all the world is the expurgated book.”

In its decision, the appellate court declared that “government actors may not remove books from a public library with the intent to deprive patrons of access to ideas with which they disagree”.

It added: “This court has declared that officials may not ‘remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the idea contained in those books and seek by their removal to prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion or other matters of opinion’.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/art ... eals-court

Too bad they weren't in Mississippi when this happened just down the road from here.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/15/us/missi ... index.html