The president of the Iowa Senate said this week said that teachers and other school employees who give "obscene" material to students should be criminally prosecuted, adding that he was drafting legislation that would make it a felony to do so.
Iowa senator calls for felony penalty for distribution of 'obscene' materials in schools
Oh my. What “obscene” material are we talking about?
Books.
I’m a librarian. A school librarian. And conservatives want my head on a plate for the crime of providing books to children they don’t agree with.
Books that encourage empathy. Books that give kids an opportunity to find themselves. Books that give kids an escape. Books that give kids the chance to see the world through the eyes of others.
For that, the president of my state senate wants me charged with a felony and imprisoned.
Chapman, an Adel Republican, was one of at least 60 people — including students, parents and teachers — who packed the school district's boardroom Thursday as a seven-member committee discussed a local couple's complaint about two books used in the district's curriculum.
Committee members said parents Mandy and Rodney Gilbert complained at the beginning of the school year that bestsellers "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas and "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie were inappropriate and obscene.
Not my district, but I know besides this one of at least four other districts within a dozen miles of mine that are also facing book challenges.
Oh, by the way… both of the books in question above have won many awards. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, a semi-autobiographical account of growing up straddling white and Native American worlds, was a state Teen Book Award nominee for my state in 2009. The Hate U Give was a 2019 High School Book award nominee. In other words, nearly every school and public library in the state with any budget to buy books probably has a copy of at least one of these books.
My state senator wants me made a criminal felon for buying them.
Meanwhile, the kids are alright.
Waverly Zhao, a junior at Johnston High School and a facilitator for the Community of Racial Equity Club, said the books help students understand the oppression endured by others.
"Removal of these books and those of similar subject matter on the basis of profane language and racism and other issues is extremely hypocritical, as novels that are considered classics like ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and ‘The Great Gatsby’ also include similar profane language and racial slurs," she said.
After a three hour meeting, the review committee voted to retain the two books. Pushback IS happening, but word NEEDS to get out about this. I’ve been trying to ring the alarm bells, but my couple of diaries on the subject of recent attempts at banning books garnered maybe 50 recs between them.
Just last week, one of my freshmen gave me a thank you note, where she thanked me for “being an amazing librarian who loves talking about books with me.”
I’ve used this before, but I’ll just wrap up with a clip from the Twilight Zone’s “The Obsolete Man,” one of the series’ finest episodes starring Burgess Meredith. Feels like this is where the Republicans want to steer things.
Edit: fixed a typo or two and noticed I forgot to add a link to the news story, which I’ve now done.