The Fight Against Book Bans Goes Federal
Despite claiming only a month ago that book-bans were a hoax, the Trump Administration has begun actively banning books from schools. As part of its continuing fight against diversity, equity, and inclusion, the Trump Administration has ordered all Department of Defense (DOD) schools located in the US to start clearing their library shelves of anything that could be seen as “radical indoctrination” of “gender ideology” or “discriminatory equity ideology.”
The order is breathtakingly broad and comes with little guidance, leading librarians in some schools to remove books that contain any reference to America’s history of slavery or the civil rights movement. And, terrifyingly, they are perhaps correct on what the Administration wants to keep our children from learning. Books that have already been flagged for review by the Department of Defense include: Freckleface Strawberry by Julianne Moore, Becoming Nicole by Nicole Maines, and No Truth Without Ruth by Kathleen Krull.
PEN American has reported more extensively on the materials flagged for removal including, instructional materials for sixth graders on Black History Month, a chapter on sexuality and gender used in Advanced Placement psychology courses for high school students, an elementary school publication titled “How Does Immigration Affect the US?”, and a biography of Albert Cashier. Not only is the current administration using book bans to discriminate, it is also stunting our children’s access to history, science, and critical thinking skills.
And if you think this ban won’t impact you if your children don’t go to a DOD school, think again. Trump’s Executive Order portends his intent to bring his book bans nationwide through the threat of pulling federal funding from schools that don’t comply. Soon we will not only be fighting state governments to allow our children access to books, we will be fighting the federal government as well.
As the old proverb goes: the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now. The same is true here. If you haven’t already joined the fight to protect and preserve the freedom to read for all Americans, now is the time. The threat has never been more real. Reach out to your federal legislators and make it clear that our children’s right to read and learn freely, and without partisan government information, are not up for grabs.