Ban the Book Ban
This past week a teacher in the Norman School District resigned from her position for sharing a QR code from the Brooklyn Public Library which discusses the library’s initiative to fight for teens nationwide to read what they like and form their own opinions. A lot of the books on the list are ones that have been heavily challenged or banned by schools across the nation, and the library is allowing teens to read digitized copies of those books.
The Norman High English teacher said she and teachers across the district have been told by administration to remove or restrict student access to classroom library texts for fear of a potential accreditation downgrade associated with any perceived violation of Oklahoma House Bill 1775.
The bill, approved by the governor in May 2021, prohibits discrimination based on race or sex in the form of bias, stereotyping, scapegoating, classification, or the categorical assignment of traits, morals, values, or characteristics based solely on race or sex.
In October of last year, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit to try to stop the law. Oklahoma legislators say contrary to statements by the ACLU and the teacher unions, the bill does not prohibit the teaching of racial topics or history. Some have also stated that children should not be taught that they should be shamed in any way due to the color of their skin or that they are responsible for the actions of any group in the past.
On the surface this looks like a positive bill that all sides should support. A major problem with the bill has to do with the accreditation of schools. Many districts are interpreting this law to mean that certain works of literature cannot be taught or even be in school library systems. Educators across the state are claiming that some districts are banning classic works of literature, including well-known titles like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, 1984, Killers of the Flower Moon and more.
The truth is many teachers are very fearful of teaching historical subjects not just from American history, but from world history. A current teacher in an area district refused to teach a certain class out of fear that if the truth as accepted by world historians was taught, reprimands would be forthcoming.
True history is sometimes hard to hear because it may make a certain group uncomfortable about things that happened in the past. Oklahoma has its share of history that caused stains, such as the Tulsa Race Riot, the possession of Native lands at statehood, and more. No state, nation, empire, or kingdom is removed from controversial actions from their respective pasts. The Romans, French, British, Germans, Asians, Africans, Christians, Muslims, Jews, and all others have occurrences that taint their histories, but they should be taught. Later generations cannot learn if past mistakes are ignored.
Likewise, ignoring good works of literature is not the way to progress either. Some of these works deal with very difficult issues. The Grapes of Wrath and Killers of the Flower Moon are two that have Oklahoma ties.
Those on the left and the right need to stop using our children as pawns in a political war for power. Both sides can agree book bans never result in a good outcome. A good library should have something that makes every person uncomfortable.
It seems that Orwell’s 1984 had some prophetic insight. Americans need to take notice and ban the banning of truth and the lessons of history and literature.
Randy D Gibson is the CEO of RDG Communications and Public Relations.
