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More than 4 million students have lost out on book access already thanks to Republican book bans [1]
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Date: 2022-09-21
To dig into specifics, PEN America reports that 40% of banned books included people of color; 20% of banned books discussed racism; 10% discussed activism; just over 30% included some sort of sexual content, and more than 40% included LGBTQ+ themes or characters.
According to the nonprofit, these book bans ultimately impacted close to 4 million students in more than 30 states. Texas banned just over 800 books across 22 school districts, earning first place in the terrible race to pull books from public school libraries. Florida followed closely behind with a reported ban of 566 throughout 21 school districts. Other heavy hitters include Pennsylvania with 457 bans across 11 districts, Tennessee with 348 bans across six districts, and Oklahoma with 43 bans across three districts.
In total, PEN America reports that more than 95% of these book bans went into effect without school districts utilizing the guidelines for book bans and challenges introduced by the National Coalition Against Censorship or the American Library Association (ALA).
Per the ALA, between January and the end of August 2022, there have been 681 attempts to ban or restrict book access in K-12 schools already. According to the organization, close to three-quarters of these attempts to censor books went after more than one title, which is unusual; in the past there were organized efforts to restrict a specific book, like when the Harry Potter series became popular and folks wanted to ban it over its witchcraft content.
Here at Daily Kos, we’ve long covered the nefarious efforts of groups like Moms for Liberty, who have doubled down on LGBTQ+ books by raising hysteria at school board meetings across the country. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe, for example, has become a fan favorite of those in the group because they cannot bear to see age-appropriate explorations of gender and sexuality on the page, apparently.
In speaking to CNN, Suzanne Nossel, who serves as chief executive officer of PEN America, stressed that many book ban efforts are coordinated, not coincidental.
"While we think of book bans as the work of individual concerned citizens, our report demonstrates that today's wave of bans represents a coordinated campaign to banish books being waged by sophisticated, ideological and well-resourced advocacy organizations," Nossel explained.
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/21/2124360/-More-than-4-million-students-have-lost-out-on-book-access-already-thanks-to-Republican-book-bans
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