Across the country, right-wing activists are seeking to ban thousands of books from schools and other public libraries. Those promoting the bans often claim they are acting to protect children from pornography. But the bans frequently target books "by and about people of color and LGBTQ individuals
The Illinois law is a ray of light and hope and by Judd highlighting it, it may encourage other states to enact a similar piece of legislation. Lets hope so. Thank you Judd.
Florida mom here and what they are doing is dumbing down our children so they do not question authority. Black gay and bi or trans people are not safe here until we fight them out
They are in the process of making sure that Florida's next generation is totally unable to compete in the 21st century. Every move they have made from book bans, to fake scandals about CRT, to anti-gay & anti-trans hate will stifle the critical thinking skills necessary for the diverse world in which we live, regardless of their fever dreams of a world that never was.
I think that many of the school boards that caved to Moms For Liberty and the other bullies are in for a rude awakening. Large majorities in towns and villages everywhere are fed up with the book banning bullshit. Especially because so much of it is coming from the same 11 people.
Correct. When you do not question authority, you cede your autonomy to those authorities. The State is placed higher than the individual, which is then codified as law. These laws are then enforced in an effort to terrorize nonconformists. This is the definition of tyranny.
Wow. I love how you broke this down so easily to understand in your words! Thank you. I teach my kids to question everyone and anything including me and especially anyone in power positions or leadership roles. In a respectable way, or to bring me their thoughts because as long as they have them I trust they will be ok. Social emotional learning is so incredibly important and diversity and equality, but it is up to us moms or dads or caregivers now to teach this and can you imagine how many foster kids and maga kids are not being taught any of it? Perpetual violence and confusion and indoctrination by our own State is just so sad
Well, I think my description sounds a little "textbook". On a human level, as are many others, I am a woke liberal. I cannot change this. It is part of the way that I think, a part of my DNA. I see injustice and inequality and it makes me angry. But I've never been an "activist", per se. I think there are many people like me - woke libs (even if they don't think they are) who have not been outspoken in public life, BUT have always voted in what I think is a rational manner in a two-party system. For me, that has meant never having voted for a Republican candidate, but that decision has been reasoned, based on their party platform. That party's values have never represented my own, and any candidate who ascribes to that platform and puts an "R" next to their name accepts it. The same goes for Democrats.
I've also concluded that this line of thinking where the Founders are not eligible to be questioned has gone too far. Originalism. Nonsense. This reduces the founding fathers to idiots. For godssakes, they amended their own Constitution. It was designed to be amended according to the will of the people for a reason. They knew that times and circumstances would change, and they did not make the process easy, but for good reason. At this point, we should have popular opinion on the side of what is "right" to amend our terrible 2nd Amendment. It no longer fits the time and circumstances we find ourselves in. But conservatives will hear nothing of the sort.
The extremes of both conservative and liberal thinking lead to authoritarianism, and both end with the surrender of individual rights. Unfortunately, history provides examples of both. The far right has given us Nazi Germany, which should be all we need, though there are other past and current examples. The far left has given us Cuba. Now, I want neither of these in the U.S., because I am an American who lives in a democracy (republic, whatever...). I've been playing capitalism like everyone else, with enough success to meet my basic needs and save for retirement. I believe that the playing field needs to be more fair - nothing more or less.
Education is no longer celebrated among conservatives. They see it as a step, or a credential, a rubber-stamp or veneer to polish their resume. They probably learned things in U.S. history in college that rankled them and challenged them to think differently. They simply chose not to, and instead started questioning the hard work of accurately framing our history. Or even worse, they understand all of this, yet choose authoritarian methods to acquire power. All of a sudden, the Confederacy was a bunch of folksy Southerners doing folksy Southern things. Like drinking mint juleps, riding on horseback around the plantation, and of course trafficking in slaves and committing genocide. They know from having gone to college what children are going to be taught, and they do not want them to hear these truths, as they themselves did. So, they set about "protecting" children from the truth.
But it is never just about children. They are using children as a smoke screen. People like DeSantis cannot hide this conservative urge, and indeed act upon it. It's not that he does. not want children exposed to these ideas. He does not want anyone exposed to these ideas. It creates this crazy situation where politicians are supporting legislation and laws the founders would have thought insane. Banning books and allowing fellow conservative thinkers to carry out vigilante justice on their fellow citizens. Both of these have "workarounds" by which the politicians use legalese to explain how they themselves are doing nothing, rather putting power into the hands of the people. Rational thinkers know that is horseshit, and that these are effectively bans on books and abortion.
Sarah Rain, thanks for beaming out light in what often looks like a dimming state. Posts like yours also help remind me that it's wrong to broadly characterize an entire state by the actions of its loudest and most willfully ignorant members. May more of the good, open minded, constructive thinkers there join your efforts to wrest your state back from autocrats, led by a grown man who once wore bright white "rubber ducky" waders to inspect storm damage, yet still demands to be taken seriously.
I recently revisited the Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC. It's one of the most impressive museums I have ever visited anywhere. And, yes, some of the exhibits are hair-raising and disturbing because they are true. I could not help but wonder whether children from states like Florida where school book censorship is an official state policy are even allowed to vitit that museum when touring DC on school trips.
No but they can read the rated X sections of the bible…ir maybe they ban those parts too! 🙄 They can go to the Intelligent Design Museum built for gullible dummies.
I seem to recall an episode of WKRP where a small group of Christian conservatives got the station to ban records they found offensive. It started with one or two “suggestions” and culminated with their leader banning “Imagine” for suggesting a contrary idea. This was in 1981, mind you. We have taken such a tremendous leap backwards in such a small amount of time.
Illinois is an imperfect state. I know that because I have lived here (Chicago) most of my life. However, I am so proud of what our legislature and governor are doing to enshrine our rights. Whether it is ensuring that both in state and out of state women have access to both surgical and medication abortion or making sure that residents have access to reading materials of their choice, Illinois is helping to lead the way.
DeSantis is missing the fact that for many children, especially in impoverished communities, their school library is the only one they use. So a book banned from a school library is the same as completely banned for many students.
I think that for DeSantis that is a feature, not a bug. He knows damn well that by banning books in schools children lose access totally. And the banners know it too, that's why they only attack the public library if it's a viable option for many children.
There’s another side to this besides the direct attacks on education. As long as we are fighting over book bans and “wokism,” we aren’t fighting to close tax loopholes and enforce antitrust laws.
No, we need to multi-task. Or, split the tasks. Bill, you take the tax loopholes. James Dicker, you take antitrust. I'll take the book bans. If we all join in on fighting the Fascist, especially at the polls, and ESPECIALLY on a local and state level, we outnumber them, and we win! We all win!
Death Santis is a common tyrant; a fascist; an opportunistic bully capitalizing on hatred and division. WTF attacks Mickey Mouse? His followers already are backward idiots--they never read books as it is. . . Fight EVIL; READ BOOKS. It’s a serious meme.
Back in the early 70s . my school division had the Responding Lit series in high school. Book banners ie Christians in my county tried to get it removed because it had suggestive and inappropriate stories.
We went to the big show down school board meeting my mom, dad and me. Was ever surprised when he got up to speak.
He looked down on the leader of the book ban pack sitting front row with his minions, then turned and spoke.
He said in his big booming voice, "I didn't fight in the jungles of the Pacific during WWII so that guys like him sitting on the sidelines could ban books. I trust the school board, administration and educators make good
decisions for my 2 students and yours."
He turned around looked down on that guy again. Dad got a lot of way to go's for days afterward.
The school board kept the books. My Daddy was and though gone now, always will be my hero. For that night and thousands of others because he was never afraid to take a stand and was a good human being.
The weasels crawled back in their holes.
They are back out here again in my community after public library books.
The parents need to stand up. The citizens need to stand up. Public officials need to stand up. We need to write letters and show up. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and right now it's the right wing minority and Moms for Liberty. Let's drown them out with the collective voices of resistance to book bans in schools and public libraries!
When I was a kid in the 80s, there was a movement in NYC (I was in the burbs) of 'safe houses'...places where abused kids could go and get help. We were told all you had to do was knock on the door and there would be a person who could help you escape abuse. Now, I was little and I am not sure I understood but given the town I live in now, in Ruby Red OH...I sure wish there was a way to signal to LGBTQIA kids that this is a safe house.
I recently heard about a movement for cis-het dads to paint their nails as a way to signal they are safe to talk to. I don't want to be naive, but man I want this to be true.
When it comes to books...I know about book boxes, and I know about showing up, but what else can we do?
Reporting that shows how individuals, groups, states and others fight back is what we need. As much as I appreciate the reporting you’ve done to expose the underbelly of so many things, I believe healthy doses of reporting that shows what people are doing to push back inspires others to take action.
I am so proud, as always, to read about one of the best governors out there. My governor Pritzker! He is a treasure for the state of IL and is a real people’s governor. We’re a shining blue diamond in the midwest because of him & now Chicago has a progressive mayor too.
Governor Pritzker ALWAYS defends people of color, LGBTQ+, women’s rights etc.
His wife is a wonderful partner to him as well and I think she is a benefit to IL residents as well.
Thank you for calling attention to this issue. If we allow books to be banned these religious extremists will not stop their. As someone who grew up poor and in a rural area, books were my window to the world. Reading has always been part of my life.
The 78% of parents who are against the bans need to get off their butts and collectively go to school board meetings and stand up to the bullies.
I repeat: Florida, preparing their future workforce to be trainable morons.
Exactly
And their State Houses. In many cases, it is not the schools but the lawmakers banning books.
Who in the world do we think we are trying to control everyone else all the damn time? It's craziness and insane.
The Illinois law is a ray of light and hope and by Judd highlighting it, it may encourage other states to enact a similar piece of legislation. Lets hope so. Thank you Judd.
Florida mom here and what they are doing is dumbing down our children so they do not question authority. Black gay and bi or trans people are not safe here until we fight them out
They are in the process of making sure that Florida's next generation is totally unable to compete in the 21st century. Every move they have made from book bans, to fake scandals about CRT, to anti-gay & anti-trans hate will stifle the critical thinking skills necessary for the diverse world in which we live, regardless of their fever dreams of a world that never was.
Peter, these Fascists should really be removed from office or tried for “UnAmerican Activities”
It seems that the Right/Fascists accuse Dems of everything the Republicans are. Time to reverse that.
I think that many of the school boards that caved to Moms For Liberty and the other bullies are in for a rude awakening. Large majorities in towns and villages everywhere are fed up with the book banning bullshit. Especially because so much of it is coming from the same 11 people.
You have to wonder why that is.
Ignorant undereducated people are easily persuaded by MAGA and "anti-woke" propaganda.
I was actually asking in a rhetorical fashion. I should have added the "/s."
You forgot to add /s! /s? Ha ha ha
Wft man! No WAY! Turnabout ain't even FAIR PLAY Man! You ain't RIGHT man! I mean MAN! How can you even DO THIS? To me? Huh Man? HUH? MAN?
(looks at feet, mutters unintelligibly, spittle flecks the air like confetti).
NO FAIR MAN!!!
Underlying racism & lack of education.
Correct. When you do not question authority, you cede your autonomy to those authorities. The State is placed higher than the individual, which is then codified as law. These laws are then enforced in an effort to terrorize nonconformists. This is the definition of tyranny.
Wow. I love how you broke this down so easily to understand in your words! Thank you. I teach my kids to question everyone and anything including me and especially anyone in power positions or leadership roles. In a respectable way, or to bring me their thoughts because as long as they have them I trust they will be ok. Social emotional learning is so incredibly important and diversity and equality, but it is up to us moms or dads or caregivers now to teach this and can you imagine how many foster kids and maga kids are not being taught any of it? Perpetual violence and confusion and indoctrination by our own State is just so sad
I appreciate your open hearted and open minded approach. Your kids could bring powerful positive leadership in any area of their lives.
Well, I think my description sounds a little "textbook". On a human level, as are many others, I am a woke liberal. I cannot change this. It is part of the way that I think, a part of my DNA. I see injustice and inequality and it makes me angry. But I've never been an "activist", per se. I think there are many people like me - woke libs (even if they don't think they are) who have not been outspoken in public life, BUT have always voted in what I think is a rational manner in a two-party system. For me, that has meant never having voted for a Republican candidate, but that decision has been reasoned, based on their party platform. That party's values have never represented my own, and any candidate who ascribes to that platform and puts an "R" next to their name accepts it. The same goes for Democrats.
I've also concluded that this line of thinking where the Founders are not eligible to be questioned has gone too far. Originalism. Nonsense. This reduces the founding fathers to idiots. For godssakes, they amended their own Constitution. It was designed to be amended according to the will of the people for a reason. They knew that times and circumstances would change, and they did not make the process easy, but for good reason. At this point, we should have popular opinion on the side of what is "right" to amend our terrible 2nd Amendment. It no longer fits the time and circumstances we find ourselves in. But conservatives will hear nothing of the sort.
The extremes of both conservative and liberal thinking lead to authoritarianism, and both end with the surrender of individual rights. Unfortunately, history provides examples of both. The far right has given us Nazi Germany, which should be all we need, though there are other past and current examples. The far left has given us Cuba. Now, I want neither of these in the U.S., because I am an American who lives in a democracy (republic, whatever...). I've been playing capitalism like everyone else, with enough success to meet my basic needs and save for retirement. I believe that the playing field needs to be more fair - nothing more or less.
Education is no longer celebrated among conservatives. They see it as a step, or a credential, a rubber-stamp or veneer to polish their resume. They probably learned things in U.S. history in college that rankled them and challenged them to think differently. They simply chose not to, and instead started questioning the hard work of accurately framing our history. Or even worse, they understand all of this, yet choose authoritarian methods to acquire power. All of a sudden, the Confederacy was a bunch of folksy Southerners doing folksy Southern things. Like drinking mint juleps, riding on horseback around the plantation, and of course trafficking in slaves and committing genocide. They know from having gone to college what children are going to be taught, and they do not want them to hear these truths, as they themselves did. So, they set about "protecting" children from the truth.
But it is never just about children. They are using children as a smoke screen. People like DeSantis cannot hide this conservative urge, and indeed act upon it. It's not that he does. not want children exposed to these ideas. He does not want anyone exposed to these ideas. It creates this crazy situation where politicians are supporting legislation and laws the founders would have thought insane. Banning books and allowing fellow conservative thinkers to carry out vigilante justice on their fellow citizens. Both of these have "workarounds" by which the politicians use legalese to explain how they themselves are doing nothing, rather putting power into the hands of the people. Rational thinkers know that is horseshit, and that these are effectively bans on books and abortion.
Thank you so much. I could not agree more!
And Fascism
Questioning authority is programmed into the DNA of every teen, like, forever. Take heart: https://wapo.st/3MCFOl8
Sarah Rain, thanks for beaming out light in what often looks like a dimming state. Posts like yours also help remind me that it's wrong to broadly characterize an entire state by the actions of its loudest and most willfully ignorant members. May more of the good, open minded, constructive thinkers there join your efforts to wrest your state back from autocrats, led by a grown man who once wore bright white "rubber ducky" waders to inspect storm damage, yet still demands to be taken seriously.
Here here may they indeed!
Grooming the next Nazis
Amen
I recently revisited the Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC. It's one of the most impressive museums I have ever visited anywhere. And, yes, some of the exhibits are hair-raising and disturbing because they are true. I could not help but wonder whether children from states like Florida where school book censorship is an official state policy are even allowed to vitit that museum when touring DC on school trips.
Their teachers would be run out of town on rails. Remember the one who was fired for showing rather innoculous photos of Michaelangelo's "David?"
No but they can read the rated X sections of the bible…ir maybe they ban those parts too! 🙄 They can go to the Intelligent Design Museum built for gullible dummies.
I seem to recall an episode of WKRP where a small group of Christian conservatives got the station to ban records they found offensive. It started with one or two “suggestions” and culminated with their leader banning “Imagine” for suggesting a contrary idea. This was in 1981, mind you. We have taken such a tremendous leap backwards in such a small amount of time.
Illinois is an imperfect state. I know that because I have lived here (Chicago) most of my life. However, I am so proud of what our legislature and governor are doing to enshrine our rights. Whether it is ensuring that both in state and out of state women have access to both surgical and medication abortion or making sure that residents have access to reading materials of their choice, Illinois is helping to lead the way.
If you moved to a perfect state, I'd like to know which one.
DeSantis is missing the fact that for many children, especially in impoverished communities, their school library is the only one they use. So a book banned from a school library is the same as completely banned for many students.
I think that for DeSantis that is a feature, not a bug. He knows damn well that by banning books in schools children lose access totally. And the banners know it too, that's why they only attack the public library if it's a viable option for many children.
No, that's the point. That's exactly why he's doing it.
There’s another side to this besides the direct attacks on education. As long as we are fighting over book bans and “wokism,” we aren’t fighting to close tax loopholes and enforce antitrust laws.
Exactly
No, we need to multi-task. Or, split the tasks. Bill, you take the tax loopholes. James Dicker, you take antitrust. I'll take the book bans. If we all join in on fighting the Fascist, especially at the polls, and ESPECIALLY on a local and state level, we outnumber them, and we win! We all win!
Death Santis is a common tyrant; a fascist; an opportunistic bully capitalizing on hatred and division. WTF attacks Mickey Mouse? His followers already are backward idiots--they never read books as it is. . . Fight EVIL; READ BOOKS. It’s a serious meme.
It is no accident that the home of the American Library Association is in Chicago.
Librarians everywhere are grateful.
Thank you so much, Judd.
Back in the early 70s . my school division had the Responding Lit series in high school. Book banners ie Christians in my county tried to get it removed because it had suggestive and inappropriate stories.
We went to the big show down school board meeting my mom, dad and me. Was ever surprised when he got up to speak.
He looked down on the leader of the book ban pack sitting front row with his minions, then turned and spoke.
He said in his big booming voice, "I didn't fight in the jungles of the Pacific during WWII so that guys like him sitting on the sidelines could ban books. I trust the school board, administration and educators make good
decisions for my 2 students and yours."
He turned around looked down on that guy again. Dad got a lot of way to go's for days afterward.
The school board kept the books. My Daddy was and though gone now, always will be my hero. For that night and thousands of others because he was never afraid to take a stand and was a good human being.
The weasels crawled back in their holes.
They are back out here again in my community after public library books.
The parents need to stand up. The citizens need to stand up. Public officials need to stand up. We need to write letters and show up. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and right now it's the right wing minority and Moms for Liberty. Let's drown them out with the collective voices of resistance to book bans in schools and public libraries!
Take a stand!
Keep up the good work Judd and PI. Thank you.
When I was a kid in the 80s, there was a movement in NYC (I was in the burbs) of 'safe houses'...places where abused kids could go and get help. We were told all you had to do was knock on the door and there would be a person who could help you escape abuse. Now, I was little and I am not sure I understood but given the town I live in now, in Ruby Red OH...I sure wish there was a way to signal to LGBTQIA kids that this is a safe house.
I recently heard about a movement for cis-het dads to paint their nails as a way to signal they are safe to talk to. I don't want to be naive, but man I want this to be true.
When it comes to books...I know about book boxes, and I know about showing up, but what else can we do?
That is MY Govenor! We don't agree on everything but we sure agree on this!
Reporting that shows how individuals, groups, states and others fight back is what we need. As much as I appreciate the reporting you’ve done to expose the underbelly of so many things, I believe healthy doses of reporting that shows what people are doing to push back inspires others to take action.
I am so proud, as always, to read about one of the best governors out there. My governor Pritzker! He is a treasure for the state of IL and is a real people’s governor. We’re a shining blue diamond in the midwest because of him & now Chicago has a progressive mayor too.
Governor Pritzker ALWAYS defends people of color, LGBTQ+, women’s rights etc.
His wife is a wonderful partner to him as well and I think she is a benefit to IL residents as well.
And you know it! Eureka!
Thank you for calling attention to this issue. If we allow books to be banned these religious extremists will not stop their. As someone who grew up poor and in a rural area, books were my window to the world. Reading has always been part of my life.
Those are very good points about access for rural and poor people, Barbara.