11 OctOber 26–NOvember 1, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti. It’s hard to pick out a quote form Gates’ book that Krause and Texarkana ISD might be trying to suppress because neither has of- fered a solid reason or complaint except that the book has been judged to be another form of “critical race theory” based on the book’s search-engine keywords. If there’s a common thread running through which books are targeted for bans, it’s that they often offer points of view that are non-white, non-straight and non-Chris- tian. The Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism found a 38% increase in the distribution of antisemitic and anti-LG- BTQ+ propaganda from 2021 to 2022. “I think our sense was that the list was just generated from a keyword search,” Meehan says. “It’s not critical race theory, but it’s possible the people behind the book bans would lump it under a critical race the- ory ban because it talks about America’s rac- ism, highlights racial flashpoints in our history and the policing history that affects different racial groups.” The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Likely banned by Grapevine-Colleyville ISD. The Kite Runner is widely considered to be a modern literary classic. Edward Hower, writ- ing in The New York Times Book Review, called it “powerful,” “a vivid and engaging story” and “a story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeem- ing love.” The novel tells the story of a boy growing up in Afghanistan from the fall of that nation’s monarchy to the rise of the Taliban. Rogers brought up his objections to the board’s decision to ban the book at its August 2022 meeting. He believes the board yanked it off shelves because of a scene involving sexual assault that’s considered to be the turning point of the novel and because of its depictions of racism in pre-revolutionary Afghanistan. “Afghanistan is like a beautiful mansion littered with garbage and someone has to take out the garbage,” the violent, racist character Assef says to protagonist Amir to- ward the end of the book when (spoiler) As- sef joins the Taliban. “That’s what you were doing in Mazar, going door-to-door? Taking out the gar- bage?” Amir asks. “Precisely.” “In the west, they have an expression for that,” Amir says. “They call it ethnic cleans- ing.” “Do they?” Assef responds. “Ethnic cleansing. I like it. I like the sound of it.” The scene is dark but the practice is an evil reality that still exists in parts of the world — one that apparently GCISD would prefer stu- dents not learn about. Amnesty International reported last year that the Taliban deliberately targeted and killed six people in a nighttime raid on a family’s home in Ghor that included a 12-year-old girl, indicating “a pattern of attacks on ethnic minorities and members of the for- mer security forces” since the U.S. left the re- gion in 2021. Mohammad Mahmodi, a Tom and Andi Bernstein visiting human rights fel- low at Yale Law School’s Schell Center for In- ternational Human Rights, said in a recent op-ed published by The Hill that the Taliban has “sought to erase religious and ethnic mi- nority groups” since taking power in 2021. “There’s absolutely nothing in it that shouldn’t read by a high schooler,” Rogers says. “It’s just ridiculous that they even con- templated removing it.” They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera Banned by Frisco and Texarkana ISDs Silvera’s young adult novel about two teen boys who meet on an app designed to forge friendships among those facing their last day on Earth was one of 23 that Patterson deemed to be “obscene,” Meehan says. What could be obscene about two guys trying to make the most of the time they have left on Earth? Maybe it has something to do with the ending (again, spoiler). “I kiss the guy who brought me to life on the day we’re going to die,” Mateo says. “’Finally!’ Rufus says when I give him the chance to breathe and now he kisses me. ‘What took you so long?’” “‘I know, I know. I’m sorry,’” Mateo re- sponds. “‘I know there’s no time to waste but I had to be sure you are who I thought you were. The best thing about dying is your friendship.’” Referring to LG- BTQ+ people and their stories as “ob- scene” can have a harmful effect on im- pressionable teens who feel isolated just because of who they are. According to The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization, suicide is the second leading cause of death among people age 10–24, and LGBTQ+ youth are four times as likely to attempt sui- cide. Imagine how it feels when a major politi- cal figure is exploiting your sexual orienta- tion to score some quick points in the polls. “Typically what we’ve seen is parents or community members have a voice in chal- lenging or having a book reconsidered,” Meehan says. “Having political leaders put out lists is new.” Forever… by Judy Blume Banned by Frisco ISD We get it. Parents who have to give “the talk” to their kids can find themselves in an especially uncomfortable situation. That’s why we have Judy Blume. Blume speaks candidly about young love and the awkward sexual feelings our bodies put us through in that cruel age known as puberty. That’s why the cele- brated young-adult author has faced cen- sorship since the beginning of her career. Forever…, the first novel Blume published, in 1975, faced a ban in Florida’s Martin County School District not long after its re- lease. Now almost five decades later, it’s been removed from Frisco ISD’s schools due to “obscene content.” “They’re trying to pass laws about what we can think, what our kids can think, what they can know, what they can talk about,” Blume told Fresh Air host Terry Gross in April. “There’s legislation going on right now that says that girls in elementary school are not allowed to speak about menstrua- tion.” Forever… is a young adult romance novel about a teenage couple’s sexual awakening and learning not just about their bodies but how the emotional swell of being in love can affect a relationship and even the trajectory of their lives. Blume confronts the scenes with bracing honesty to make the characters more relatable to the readers, especially during scenes of physical intimacy. “He led my hand to his penis,” says Kath- erine. “Katherine … I’d like you to meet Ralph … Ralph, this is Katherine. She’s a very good friend of mine,” Michael says. “Does every penis have a name?” Kather- ine asks Michael. “I can only speak for my own,” Mi- chael responds. Study after study has shown that shielding teenagers from the realities of sex and their feel- ings does nothing to protect them from sexually trans- mitted diseases and teen pregnancies. Co- lumbia University’s School of Public Health pub- lished two papers in 2017 that found abstinence-only sex-educa- tion programs and policies are not merely ineffective at their stated purpose of delay- ing sexual activity — they also “violate ado- lescent human rights, withhold medically accurate information, stigmatize or ex- clude many youth, reinforce harmful gen- der stereotypes and undermine health programs.” The Big Questions Book of Sex and Consent by Donna Freitas Banned by Frisco ISD Maybe you’re the type of prude who says that children shouldn’t be exposed to books that talk about sex in fictional terms even if the author’s intentions are to destigmatize natu- ral feelings. Maybe you think they should learn about sex from something more clinical that’s straight to the point, so to speak. Frisco ISD thought of that one, too, when it banned this nonfiction book. Bookshop. org describes it “a journey into the big ques- tions that will turn you into a thinking per- son about sex and consent,” adding that it’s not “the fear-based how-to on sex and con- sent, oversimplified and focused on techni- calities that represent so much of our sexual education today.” Freitas’ book simply answers questions like: What is sexual identity? What does it mean to be a boy, a guy, a man, or a girl, a woman? What is sexual violence, consent, desire and love? One of the more interesting chapters asks: Why are people so afraid of sex? Why is there so much shame around sex? “The adult people in your life don’t want you to experience a pregnancy when you are not ready, or any of the other possible nega- tive health consequences that can arise from having sex,” Freitas writes. “The adult peo- ple in your life don’t ever want you to be the victim of sexual violence or the perpetrator of it either. Your parents’ fears, if they have them, are justified … But …but… ! (There’s al- ways a but!) Those are justified to a point.” The Journal of Adolescent Health pub- lished a study in 2020 that examined three decades of comprehensive sexual education sources and found that education beginning in elementary school “that is scaffolded and of longer duration, as well as LGBTQ-inclu- sive education,” can lead to “appreciation of sexual diversity, dating and intimate partner violence prevention, development of healthy relationships, prevention of child sex abuse, improved social/emotional learn- ing and increased media literacy.” And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell Likely banned by Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Since her district started implementing its anti-LGBTQ and gender discrimination pol- icies, Trevino says she started reading some of the books she heard were no longer in her children’s schools. She came across this heartwarming tale of a family of penguins after learning it had been banned by some Florida school districts. The children’s book tells the story of a pair of male penguins named Roy and Silo who live in a zoo. They end up raising a baby penguin together from an egg provided by their caretaker, who notices the affection between the two penguins. “They didn’t spend much time with the girl penguins and the girl penguins didn’t spend much time with them,” the book says. “Instead, Roy and Silo wound their necks around each other. Their keeper Mr. Gramzay noticed the two penguins and thought to himself, ‘They must be in love.’” The most scandalous behavior Roy and Silo exhibit is to swim together, make a home together on a bed of rocks and hatch the egg, producing a boy penguin named Tango. There’s no salacious penguin sex or even any “over the tuxedo” behavior. It’s just two penguins who are in love and raise a baby penguin with that love. “There’s nothing sexual about it,” Trev- ino says. “It was a cute book.” *** These book bans aren’t just concerning because of how they restrict the scope of students’ knowledge and understanding of the world. It’s also putting a great deal of strain on librarians, a profession dedicated to increasing communities’ access to infor- mation and enlightenment and preserving the tenants of free speech. “They’re being intimidated in their jobs and pressured from their community on so- cial media and people filming them outside of their libraries,” Robinson says. “We’re seeing librarians leave the profession or self- censorship where librarians are not bring- ing in media that’s very much needed. It’s a very challenging environment to be a librar- ian right now.” “It’s a very challenging environment to be a librarian right now.” –SHIRLEY ROBINSON, TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
