WASHINGTON — A U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee panel is examining examined why thousands of books, predominantly written by marginalized authors, have been banned from public schools, and the impact of those actions on students and teachers.
“Most books being targeted for censorship are books that introduce ideas about diversity or our common humanity, books that teach children to recognize and respect humanity in one another,” the chair of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Rep. Jamie Raskin, said during a hearing on Thursday.
Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, cited a report by PEN America — an organization that advocates for the protection of free speech — that from July 2021 to the end of March this year more than 1,500 books were banned in 86 school districts in 26 states.
The report found that of the banned books, 467 — or 41 percent — contained main or secondary characters of color; 247, or 22 percent, addressed racism; and 379, or 33 percent, of the books contained LGBTQ+ themes.
Raskin held up a children’s book that administrators have tried to remove from school libraries. The book was written by Ruby Bridges, a civil rights icon who was the first Black child to desegregate an all-white Louisiana school. Bridges, who was 6 years old at the time, was a witness at the hearing.
“The truth is that rarely do children of color or immigrants see themselves in these textbooks we are forced to use,” Bridges said. “I write because I want them to understand the contributions their ancestors have made to our great country, whether that contribution was made as slaves or volunteers.”
Her book, “This Is Your Time,” is being reviewed for possible removal in a school district in Texas. Books written about her story have been banned in classrooms in Pennsylvania.
High school students speak out
The hearing began with testimony from several high school students.
Olivia Pituch and Christina Ellis, of York, Pa., said it is important for students to see books written by authors who are people of color, LGBTQ+, Black and Indigenous, and with characters from marginalized groups.
Pituch, who identifies with the LGBTQ+ community, said that if she had been able to have access to books with queer representation, she would have “been able to embrace and love myself a lot earlier on.”
S”I deserve to walk into my school library and find a book with someone like me.”
– Olivia Pituch, high school student
– Olivia Pituch, high school student
“I deserve to walk into my school library and find a book with someone like me,” she said.
Ellis, who is Black, said that books that center characters who are people of color also benefit white students, so those students are educated about different cultures.
She talked about how growing up, classmates would make fun of the Caribbean food she brought from home and how her classmates and sometimes teachers would touch her hair.
“Books that highlight our differences, and that teach others how to address diversity, are crucial,” she said. “Books can help kids educate themselves on various cultures and ways of life.”
Mindy Freeman, a parent from Pennsylvania, said a book called “George (Now Melissa)” was able to help her daughter, in fourth grade at the time, understand what she was going through as a transgender girl. Freeman said her daughter’s access to an age-appropriate book provided her the support and visibility she needed.
“No book made my child become transgender any more than a book could have turned her eyes from brown to blue,” Freedman said.
Freedom of speech on campus
Republicans on the panel, Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Andy Biggs of Arizona, focused on freedom of speech on college campuses, and argued that these places were not welcoming to conservatives.
Biggs asked the Republican witness, Jonathan Pidluzny, what action should be taken so that conservatives are not barred from speaking on college campuses. Pidluzny is vice president of academic affairs for the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, which is an organization that supports free speech across universities.
“We need to learn to tolerate the speech we abhor,” Pidluzny said.
Two Republicans, Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida and ranking member Nancy Mace of South Carolina, asked witnesses about district decisions about school curriculum and school administrators’ decisions to ban books.
“Taxpayers should have the ability to review that material because they pay for it,” Donalds said.
He, along with Mace, argued that there were other ways that students could get books, such as buying them or going to a public library.
“They can get a book from a lot of different places,” Mace said. “Is there anything that prevents a kid from going to a public library?”
Two of the witnesses, Samantha Hull, a librarian from Lancaster County, Pa., and Jessica Berg, a teacher from Loudoun County, Va., said that not every student has the financial means to buy books or has adequate access to transportation to visit public libraries to read books where they see themselves represented.
Berg said that attacks on education from Republicans almost caused her to quit her job. She said she has received death threats from members of her own community as well as continued questioning of her expertise.
“Books … offer a mirror to readers so they can see themselves reflected in some way, be it their gender, race, culture, identity, or experience, and it makes them feel less alone in the world,” she said. “When I think about the books frequently being challenged, the only connection I see between them is that they are the books that give voice to the most marginalized in our society.”
Mace agreed that history, especially “problematic chapters in our history,” should be taught in schools, but said books dealing with adult topics expose young kids to inappropriate topics.
“We should be teaching critical thinking skills,” Mace said, adding that she’s disturbed by reports of colleges “stifling speech to coddle young adults.”
Tennessee book banning
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat, held up a graphic novel about the Holocaust that was the latest book to be banned in Tennessee classrooms, “Maus.” She said with the rise in white nationalism, antisemitism, and racism, books like “Maus” are now more important than ever.
“We know that bigotry is learned,” Wasserman Schultz said, adding that “we also know it can be unlearned.”
She asked Hall what removing books like “Maus” and ones that have diverse characters does to students.
“It’s my opinion when books are removed … students are erased,” Hall said. “They feel their identities are not valued in the school and outside the school.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., did not ask any of the witnesses questions but expressed the fear of discrimination her two Muslim sons might face growing up.
“Our children, they just simply want to exist as they are,” she said.
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Laurel says
Book banning is clearly another way to Make America White Again, which is absurd as it never really was. Just the rulers were, and a portion of people benefited from it. My understand is that one of the books to be banned is “To Kill a Mockingbird,” which was voted America’s favorite book, and certainly a favorite of mine. This banning practice is completely self serving. Banning books is a sure path to the destruction of democracy.
That being said, “people of color” stop participating in this separation! LBGTQ people stop participating in this separation! I asked a “relative of color” what is the difference between “people of color” and “colored people? She said “people of color” is a more polite term. Um, okay.
I’m a “straight,” “white” woman. I have no “sisters.” I have no “gay” allegiance. I have no “good ole boy” support. I have no “religious” affiliation. I got no pass in the workplace. Everyone goes through some sort of drama or another in their lives. One may feel bigotry, another may have a relative with cancer. We all need to just get the hell over with it. People are people, just take each for who he or she (or binary) is.
To make someone feel better or worse because of the melanin in their skin, or the gender they are more comfortable with is just simply dealing with fear and self loathing of those claiming to be more “moral” or more “religious”, or supposedly “protecting their children” from the way God actually made them. Banning books is not going to make it better for the fearful; banning books just creates more fear and self loathing.
We need our authors. We need our books, not just because of “marginalized” groups, but for all of us to expand our minds, to see and feel more of our world around us, and to enjoy the creativity we were born with, no matter who we are.