Last week, I participated in a "Freedom Walk" at a local high school where I'm completing some of my Practicum hours for graduate school.
The librarian, Mrs. Podmore, is an amazing advocate in the community. She attends council meetings and is fighting against the current book bans happening in Texas.
She created this freedom walk event, where she educated her students on intellectual freedom, The First Amendment, HB900, and how this all affects our school libraries. You can read more on HB900 here: texas.gov
Here is a recent update of where the bill stands today: publishersweekly.com. The bill has been blocked by a federal judge, however, that doesn't mean it will not pass. For now, it's on hold. As I participated in the activities with students, I was shocked to see the rationale for school districts banning certain books. The bill states that vendors will ban books if they have "sexually explicit" content. Most of the books that have been banned lately are for other reasons. Here's an example:
New York Times bestseller Sulwe, is a story about a little girl who has the skin color of "midnight." Simon and Schuster post, "In this stunning debut picture book, actress Lupita Nyong’o creates a whimsical and heartwarming story to inspire children to see their own unique beauty." (simonandschuster.com). This book is especially meaningful to me as I grew up a dark Mexican in the suburbs of San Antonio, TX. I had to learn how to embrace my color. I learned to love it, but I resented it for so long as a young girl. It's important for our children to see themselves on our bookshelf. This book has been banned in Central York, PA, and Duval, FL.
This is their rationale:
CRT - racism goes far beyond just individually held prejudices and it is in fact a systemic phenomenon woven into the laws and institutions of this nation. I realize this is outside of Texas but this is where these bans are heading. Books that have been banned in different parts of Texas include New Kid, Stamped, and Ground Zero. These books have been banned for reasons outside of anything that has to do with "sexually explicit" content. It has nothing to do with HB900.
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