Surprise, surprise. The Florida woman who got Amanda Gorman’s The Hill We Climb banned didn’t even read the whole thing. Daily Salinas has had to explain she’s not anti-Semitic, so the detail about her cursory reading of the banned material being somewhat less than thorough didn’t get as much attention at first. It’s a detail of the story that I think needs more attention. John Bacon for USA Today:
The Florida mom whose complaints about reading material prompted Amanda Gorman's acclaimed poem "The Hill We Climb" and other books to be restricted at a local elementary school admits she only read parts of the material she objected to. [emphasis mine]
[...]
Salinas told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency she complained about Gorman's poem and the books because they did not support the curriculum. ...
“I’m not an expert,” Salinas said. “I’m not a reader. I’m not a book person. I’m a mom involved in my children’s education.”
I doubt that’s what the teachers meant when they asked parents to be more involved in the children’s education.
Amanda Gorman’s book must be a real door stopper of more than a thousand pages, on par with War and Peace. So I looked it up on Amazon. It’s a 32-page book, and a lot of the pages have only four to eight lines in them.
It’s the poem that Gorman read at the inauguration of President Biden’s presidency on January 20, 2021. The foreword by Oprah Winfrey might have a higher word count, though occupying fewer pages.
Technically, the little book wasn’t banned. Technically.
Here's a very brief quotation that I believe falls under fair use:
For there is always light,
If only we’re brave enough to see it,
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
Okay, sounds almost anodyne to me. The language is quite simple, I would not expect third graders to need to look up any word of that in the dictionary. I’d have a tougher time reading a Shakespeare sonnet, and I actually took a Shakespeare class at university. So maybe better hold those Shakespeare sonnets off to high school anyway.
Can you imagine the uproar if Shakespeare was banned or even just “restricted”? How dare they disrespect white heritage like that! Banning Gorman’s poem has nothing to do with her being black. Surely Daily Salinas, who has had to explain she’s not a neo-Nazi, would not also be racist against blacks. Perish the thought!
Still, if Daily Salinas can’t be bothered to read the whole poem, she should at least cite specific passages along with plausible reasons why those passages are inappropriate for schoolchildren.
ADDENDUM, June 1: I could have seen the book ban request form back last week, but for some reason I didn’t find it on Twitter until today. I don’t know if that’s on Twitter or if that’s on me. But now I found it, thanks to the November Coalition.
The title is The Hill We Climb. Okay, so far the form seems to be in order. The author is Oprah Winfrey? However much Gorman might admire Winfrey, the poet probably didn’t take the mistaken identity as compliment, nor should she. Let’s keep going though.
Salinas asked for a complete removal of the book. Okay, we’ll consider it, hoping you have provided some convincing reasons. To what do you object? Please be specific. Blank.
Why do you object to this material? Because it’s “not educational and have indirectly [sic] hate messages” on pages 12 to 13.
As it turns out, you can see those two pages and a few others on the Amazon preview. “We’ve braved the belly of the beast” is the first of four lines on page 12. What does Salinas think “the beast” refers to? Gorman tells us that “quiet isn’t always peace.” This is a call to guard against complacency. Not particularly hateful, I think.
And the last line of page 13 refers to America as “A nation that isn’t broken, but simply unfinished.” The young poet was far more optimistic about America than I was at that point in time.
Salinas claims to have reviewed all the material. I’m skeptical, but let’s take her at her word for now. The next question is whether she’s aware of professional reviews of the material. Instead of answering yes or no, Salinas claim not to need it. Essentially, she’s admitting to being ignorant and is proud of her ignorance.
If I was filling out that form, you bet I would be aware of professional reviews of the material. And if I wasn’t, I’d make myself aware. Just a quick Google search reveals plenty of professional reviews, running the gamut from laudatory to excoriating. Salinas probably doesn’t know either of those words, so I should probably write “from 5 stars to 1 star” instead.
Most reviews land in the middle. Gorman’s poem is heartfelt and of great historical significance but as literature it is underwhelming, to paraphrase one critic. Another critic confirms my guess that Winfrey’s essay is only five pages and Gorman’s poem is spread thin across eighteen pages, and that there is no new material from Gorman.
Surely Salinas could have found a critic who more or less supported her position, if she had cared to look. Salinas left blank the space for the material’s strengths, so I suppose credit to her for not writing something sarcastic in that space.
For what age group would you recommend this material? “Not for schools,” Salinas wrote. Okay, whatever. Maybe the next question will be more productive.
What do you believe is the function of this material? To “cause confusion and [to] indoctrinate stude[nts].” I think Salinas is the one who is confused and indoctrinated.
What material would you recommend instead? Blank, she wrote nothing. Alrighty then.