All around the country, we have have Republicans claiming to protect minors by books in school libraries. Now , Indiana jumps on the bandwagon. It's censorship pure and simple.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle reported on this under Tensions rise at Indiana Statehouse over bill targeting “harmful” library materials for minors.
Maybe school libraries have changed in the almost 45 years since I left Anderson Highland, but I find it hard to believe that the materials sought to be excluded exist in a school library:
Language in the original version of the bill, authored by Sen. Jim Tomes, R-Wadesville, sought to remove “educational purposes” as a reason that public schools and libraries could claim legal protection for sharing “harmful material” with underage students. That includes books and other materials deemed to be obscene, pornographic or violent.
Then the other shoe drops:
Numerous parents who testified pushed back, demanding that lawmakers reinstate language from Tomes’ original bill.
They argued that students should not have access to “raw” and “disgusting” works, pointing to school library books that deal with sex education, drug use, violence, sexual abuse and gender identity. They maintained, too, that school boards do nothing when parents complain about specific titles.
A ringing endorsement for more parental involvement in Indiana's educational system. I do not see how the parental complaints become the legislators' obscene and pornographic. Okay, that's sarcasm. Put those two words together with minor children, and all debate becomes a dead end.
We have seen how well this is working in Florida. Which is why I side with these people:
Advocates for schools and libraries contend the issue goes beyond claims about pornography in libraries or legal defenses available in state statute.
More broadly, they said the issue stems from “fundamental differences” in values and opinions over what material is “appropriate” for Hoosier youth.
“I’m worried that librarians are going to stop collecting materials because they’re afraid of prosecution. They’re afraid of being taken into a criminal process,” said Chad Heck, representing the Indiana Library Federation. “We need to preserve this defense so that our librarians feel safe to represent the diverse values of our communities and patrons and students in our schools.”
When I graduated high school there was a debate on teaching John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, and when I was in pretrial detention I recall controversy over teaching Toni Morrison's The Song of Solomon. After all, why should Hoosier children read the writing of Americans who won the Nobel Prize for Literature? Ignorance is such bliss. Just ask Fox News.
This seems like a plan to limit the intellectual capabilities of Hoosiers for political gain, not a practical solution to a real problem of librarians corrupting Indiana's youth with copies of The Story of O.
The Bill made it out of committee to the whole of Indiana's Senate.
Back when I was in 8th Grade, a bunch of us wound up at the Dean's Office for having had one of Xaveria Hollander's books pass through our hands. This information then went to our parents. We did not get this book at the school library. One of the other kids brought it into class. Someone bought the book. Which gave me this epiphany: censor these books, make them of interest to the kids, they spend their money on their own books, and save the publishing industry!
What's next, saying the sun isn't yellow, it's chicken?
However, Indiana may have seen the light regarding CRT:
Meanwhile, the Senate Education Committee met for less than 30 minutes Wednesday after a bill that seeks to ban “critical race theory” from being taught in classrooms was removed from the agenda.
Senate Bill 386, authored by Richmond Republican Sen. Jeff Raatz, would limit classroom discussions about race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation and other factors. The bill states teachers could not “compel, promote or indoctrinate” the belief that one race is superior or inferior to another, for example.
It is one thing to just say no to drugs, it is another to say no to history.
Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
sch 2/18
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