Liberal and conservative groups want books banned

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There are groups on the left and groups on the right that are involved in banning books.

There are currently only four states that are out of control with the book banning. They are Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. Other states only have handfuls of banned books but probably will follow Texas if they prove to be successful.

Parents in a liberal district in California objected to : “Huckleberry Finn”, “The Cay” , “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” and “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck.
The Burbank Unified School District objected to the inclusion of these books in their schools’ curriculum because according to them these titles “cast Black people in negative, hopeless, and secondary roles; and all but one are written from the lens of a White author.”

The Giving Tree was banned in Colorado in the 80s for being “sexist”.



The conservative right and religious organizations are on a roll in Texas and Florida. The private groups in those states are spending big money on electing school committee members and political leaders who will vote their way.

Too many books to list. Over 800 in Texas alone. But most books are contested because of sexual content, language and “normalizing transgender and gays”.

The Family Book ban really surprised me. It depicts families just like they are in real life. Some families have 1 dad or 1 mom, some have both a mom and dad, some have two moms or two dads. Some have grandparents taking care of the children. Some families are quiet, some are loud.

I got that book because it lets young children know that there are all types of families and that their families are just fine.

I couldn’t find too many books banned by the left. Has anyone seen a list or anything?
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Lemons wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 1:06 am “Huckleberry Finn”“cast Black people in negative, hopeless, and secondary roles
Idiots!
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Lemons wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 1:06 am There are groups on the left and groups on the right that are involved in banning books.

There are currently only four states that are out of control with the book banning. They are Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. Other states only have handfuls of banned books but probably will follow Texas if they prove to be successful.

Parents in a liberal district in California objected to : “Huckleberry Finn”, “The Cay” , “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” and “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck.
The Burbank Unified School District objected to the inclusion of these books in their schools’ curriculum because according to them these titles “cast Black people in negative, hopeless, and secondary roles; and all but one are written from the lens of a White author.”

The Giving Tree was banned in Colorado in the 80s for being “sexist”.



The conservative right and religious organizations are on a roll in Texas and Florida. The private groups in those states are spending big money on electing school committee members and political leaders who will vote their way.

Too many books to list. Over 800 in Texas alone. But most books are contested because of sexual content, language and “normalizing transgender and gays”.

The Family Book ban really surprised me. It depicts families just like they are in real life. Some families have 1 dad or 1 mom, some have both a mom and dad, some have two moms or two dads. Some have grandparents taking care of the children. Some families are quiet, some are loud.

I got that book because it lets young children know that there are all types of families and that their families are just fine.

I couldn’t find too many books banned by the left. Has anyone seen a list or anything?
Asking if a book still belongs in the school curriculum is quite different from "banning books." Florida has taken steps resulting in all books being removed from classrooms, and criminalizing school staff that may have a book in the class or library that is deemed inappropriate. That is totally different from wanting to update required reading lists.
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The ALA doesn’t separate challenged books by right or left. You’d have to really do your own research and I will forewarn that it can be tedious because unless it’s a classic or is on the yearly/weekly top 10, they don’t list the reasons for challenging so you have to cross check all that. Many though are challenged by both sides like Grapes of Wrath, The Color Purple, Catcher in the Rye, Slaughterhouse Five, etc.

But it really doesn’t matter how many one side has vs another. It doesn’t matter if you agree with the reasoning on one side vs another. Or if you think it’s outdated because even the outdated is very teachable and let’s face it, many of the Classics were outdated when we were in school yet they were tools used to help us become free thinking critical thinkers.

ETA, technically some of those listed for Burbank, were banned by CA legislation for over a decade so technically shouldn’t have been in the schools or their curriculum.
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Quorra2.0 wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 10:38 am The ALA doesn’t separate challenged books by right or left. You’d have to really do your own research and I will forewarn that it can be tedious because unless it’s a classic or is on the yearly/weekly top 10, they don’t list the reasons for challenging so you have to cross check all that. Many though are challenged by both sides like Grapes of Wrath, The Color Purple, Catcher in the Rye, Slaughterhouse Five, etc.

But it really doesn’t matter how many one side has vs another. It doesn’t matter if you agree with the reasoning on one side vs another. Or if you think it’s outdated because even the outdated is very teachable and let’s face it, many of the Classics were outdated when we were in school yet they were tools used to help us become free thinking critical thinkers.
They shouldn’t be banned for being outdated but I think a lot of students would benefit a lot more with updated books, current issues and there are some incredibly gifted writers out there right now.

For students who don’t like to read all that much to begin with the old language and style just turns them off. My oldest daughter has a hard time with reading. I helped her with Moby Dick but shit, that’s a boring story. I know it has all these symbolism blah blah but it boring AF. Some students will pretend to love it because only really smart people get it but no.
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I think maybe we need to calm down and reread the definition of "book banning"? They're parents making decisions on curriculum or what's put in the school library. Parents should participate in their child's education.

They're not taking these books off the shelf of public libraries, making Amazon remove them, or trying to remove them from circulation altogether.

If there are books that a parent finds of particular value, the parents can always obtain these books and have the child read them at home. Parents are supposed to be involved in their children's education, right? You never took trips to the public library after school and checked out books other than what was assigned in school? I know I and my classmates did. Kids get together and meet up at the library all the time. Learning isn't restricted just to school hours.

Children aren't ONLY allowed to read books that the school assigns nor are they relegated to ONLY read what they find in the school library.

In the case of the family geared books for example, parents maybe want to orchestrate how and when their children start to learn about that material. I most certainly wouldn't want my 6 year old child to just pick up a book at school about Johnny having two mommies. That's something I want to know that they're reading first of all, and second I want to be the one to have that discussion with them and be able to answer questions about the material. If they're reading this in school, how do I know what that teacher's views are on homosexuality? I wouldn't want some kind of bias put in their heads at a young age by a stranger.

Again, the school isn't raising these kids. The parents are still supposed to parent, so having a hand in curating reading material isn't an outrageous thing. I can see where parents are coming from on this.
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Lemons wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 1:42 pm
Quorra2.0 wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 10:38 am The ALA doesn’t separate challenged books by right or left. You’d have to really do your own research and I will forewarn that it can be tedious because unless it’s a classic or is on the yearly/weekly top 10, they don’t list the reasons for challenging so you have to cross check all that. Many though are challenged by both sides like Grapes of Wrath, The Color Purple, Catcher in the Rye, Slaughterhouse Five, etc.

But it really doesn’t matter how many one side has vs another. It doesn’t matter if you agree with the reasoning on one side vs another. Or if you think it’s outdated because even the outdated is very teachable and let’s face it, many of the Classics were outdated when we were in school yet they were tools used to help us become free thinking critical thinkers.
They shouldn’t be banned for being outdated but I think a lot of students would benefit a lot more with updated books, current issues and there are some incredibly gifted writers out there right now.

For students who don’t like to read all that much to begin with the old language and style just turns them off. My oldest daughter has a hard time with reading. I helped her with Moby Dick but shit, that’s a boring story. I know it has all these symbolism blah blah but it boring AF. Some students will pretend to love it because only really smart people get it but no.
I consider myself smart and I hated Moby Dick. Honestly my favorite character was the cannibal. I felt Melville was in dire need of a good editor. It’s a bad sign when you end up rooting for the whale. Didn’t like Bartleby the Scrivner either which I think is by the same author. That one I was like “huh?” And I’m not sure the audiences of the day cared for them either. I’m all for updated books though. And teachers shouldn’t look down on manga. A lot of them have very important themes.
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I haven't heard of any liberal groups wanting to ban books......remove them from a required reading list or high school curriculum and replace them with something updated, certainly, but not outright banning them and removing them from school libraries and grounds such as conservative groups are pushing. Conservative groups are going so far as to demand certain books aren't even allowed on school campus (even when the student brings the book from home).
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Valentina327 wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 9:13 am I think maybe we need to calm down and reread the definition of "book banning"? They're parents making decisions on curriculum or what's put in the school library. Parents should participate in their child's education.

They're not taking these books off the shelf of public libraries, making Amazon remove them, or trying to remove them from circulation altogether.

If there are books that a parent finds of particular value, the parents can always obtain these books and have the child read them at home. Parents are supposed to be involved in their children's education, right? You never took trips to the public library after school and checked out books other than what was assigned in school? I know I and my classmates did. Kids get together and meet up at the library all the time. Learning isn't restricted just to school hours.

Children aren't ONLY allowed to read books that the school assigns nor are they relegated to ONLY read what they find in the school library.

In the case of the family geared books for example, parents maybe want to orchestrate how and when their children start to learn about that material. I most certainly wouldn't want my 6 year old child to just pick up a book at school about Johnny having two mommies. That's something I want to know that they're reading first of all, and second I want to be the one to have that discussion with them and be able to answer questions about the material. If they're reading this in school, how do I know what that teacher's views are on homosexuality? I wouldn't want some kind of bias put in their heads at a young age by a stranger.

Again, the school isn't raising these kids. The parents are still supposed to parent, so having a hand in curating reading material isn't an outrageous thing. I can see where parents are coming from on this.
It seems as if a majority of these book bans are happening in rural communities where kids don't "get together and meet up at the library" but rather only have access to books through their school.

I would be surprised if a 6 year old had never had interaction with a "Johnny" but what does it say to Johnny with two mommies that a school removes any mention of his family structure but leaves books portraying heterosexual families?
"The books that the world calls immoral are books that show its own shame." - Oscar Wilde
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Pjmm wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 9:49 am
Lemons wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 1:42 pm
Quorra2.0 wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 10:38 am The ALA doesn’t separate challenged books by right or left. You’d have to really do your own research and I will forewarn that it can be tedious because unless it’s a classic or is on the yearly/weekly top 10, they don’t list the reasons for challenging so you have to cross check all that. Many though are challenged by both sides like Grapes of Wrath, The Color Purple, Catcher in the Rye, Slaughterhouse Five, etc.

But it really doesn’t matter how many one side has vs another. It doesn’t matter if you agree with the reasoning on one side vs another. Or if you think it’s outdated because even the outdated is very teachable and let’s face it, many of the Classics were outdated when we were in school yet they were tools used to help us become free thinking critical thinkers.
They shouldn’t be banned for being outdated but I think a lot of students would benefit a lot more with updated books, current issues and there are some incredibly gifted writers out there right now.

For students who don’t like to read all that much to begin with the old language and style just turns them off. My oldest daughter has a hard time with reading. I helped her with Moby Dick but shit, that’s a boring story. I know it has all these symbolism blah blah but it boring AF. Some students will pretend to love it because only really smart people get it but no.
I consider myself smart and I hated Moby Dick. Honestly my favorite character was the cannibal. I felt Melville was in dire need of a good editor. It’s a bad sign when you end up rooting for the whale. Didn’t like Bartleby the Scrivner either which I think is by the same author. That one I was like “huh?” And I’m not sure the audiences of the day cared for them either. I’m all for updated books though. And teachers shouldn’t look down on manga. A lot of them have very important themes.
Amazing that you remember all that. When people say these books aren’t banned they are banned from being used as teachers see fit.

I remember my son had the book Speak in the car when we went on a long visit to see relatives. So I read it. Simple language, current problems that we no longer hide, perfectly identifiable for teens Now in some states teachers can’t assign it to the class and discuss the book.
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