As the conservative right digs its heels into the culture war of the day, the list of books challenged and banned across the country has exploded. According to the American Library Association, 1,597 individual books were targeted in 2021, more than double the number in 2020.
The vast majority of the books challenged last year dealt with LGBTQ or racial themes. Right-wing politicians and parents alike have branded themselves free speech warriors who are tired of endless censorship by the liberal media.
But the moral panic du jour around critical race theory, and gender and sexuality has driven this select group of people to mount unprecedented attacks on free speech in service of the ongoing culture war.
Last year’s anti-book movement came in the form of removals or attempts at removals from libraries, schools and universities across the country.
When George Floyd was murdered in May 2020, there was a period when it seemed the country was on the brink of a turning point on racial justice. But the outpouring of support for protesters quickly turned into a backlash.
New laws banning teachers from talking about race and racism took hold across GOP-led states, and conservative activists quickly turned their attention to books on the topics.
“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas, published in 2017, is about a teenage girl dealing with the fatal police shooting of a friend. Thomas’ book has been targeted by school boards and parents, who say it should be banned because it promotes “an anti-police message and indoctrination of a social agenda.”
It made the library association’s top 10 most-challenged books in 2021. Late last year, the book was pulled from a Pennsylvania school after parents complained that the novel appeared on a list assembled by an organization called Social Justice Books.
“The goal of this organization is to compile a list of approved books that educators should use to help promote ‘social justice’ in the classroom,” one parent said. “In case you haven’t decoded yet … we’re talking about books that promote and encourage critical race theory.”
The parent had not actually read the whole book, but declared that it was “disgusting.”
A sure sign that these complaints hardly have any merit is a peculiar one that came out of Katy, Texas. Heather E. Schwartz wrote a children’s biography of former first lady Michelle Obama.
An unnamed parent in the Katy school district complained that “Michelle Obama: Political Icon” should be pulled from the shelves because it called Donald Trump a bully and implied that “if you sound like a white girl, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
The school district declined to remove the book.
But that doesn’t mean Texas isn’t leading the charge in book banning. In October, state Rep. Matt Krause announced that he was investigating 850 books at Texas schools that “might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex.” Krause asked schools to report whether they had any such books and how much money they spent on them.
Nope To Gay Penguins
Some of the books targeted include nonfiction history books like “An African American and Latinx History of the United States” by Paul Ortiz, and two novels by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Books on race and racism weren’t the only ones to make Krause’s list. Those that focused on gender, sexuality and the LGBTQ community were present as well, including ”And Tango Makes Three,” a children’s book about gay penguins and their daughter.
Krause most likely included a book about gay penguins because the GOP’s war on LGBTQ people has intensified with Florida’s new “Don’t Say Gay” bill, and the smearing of transgender people and their allies as sexual predators.
Another book that made the 10 most-challenged list is for young people. In Juno Dawson’s “This Book Is Gay,” the author seeks to teach LGBTQ teens about sexual health — a sorely missing lesson in our nation’s public education system.
In Wyoming, parents complained to a public library about five books included in the sections for teens and children, including Dawson’s. One couple even went to the county sheriff’s office to file a criminal complaint.
“We had thought that they would see a problem with recruiting children for sexual activity when they’re not mature enough for that to be an issue in their lives, creating an issue where it should not be created,” one of the people who went to law enforcement said.
Silencing Voices
A state prosecutor declined to prosecute the librarians.
But not facing charges over refusing to ban a book doesn’t mean the fight is over for libraries and schools.
This iteration of book bans isn’t really about keeping children safe from Michelle Obama biographies or penguins in a same-sex marriage. The end goal is to eliminate the voices of people of color and the LGBTQ community.
It is all a part of the broader war on marginalized communities. Every day, Black people and liberals are accused of practicing critical race theory for speaking about racism, or accused of sexually grooming children for supporting LGBTQ youth.
Consider how gay marriage and interracial marriage, two issues already resolved by the Supreme Court, have recently been brought up by prominent Republicans as if those rights weren’t settled. Conservative leaders outwardly accuse liberals and corporations that dare to disagree with their flurry of homophobic and transphobic laws of supporting pedophiles. It’s clear that the culture wars have entered a new and more insidious phase, and that banning books is just the beginning.