It’s been a helluva week, and discouraging and demoralizing on so many fronts. That’s the point, though.
Last night there was another bombshell in the midst of other bombshells with a press release (see below for full text) from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights with a flashy headline declaring book bans to be a hoax and that they will no longer investigate book banning as a civil rights violation.
Yeah, it hit me like a gut punch. As it was meant to.
However, let’s look at the language. Is it inflammatory? Yes. Is it true? No. We know it’s not. We also know that language is meant to flood the airwaves and be repeated ad nauseam by the MAGAs and Moms for Liberty.
Kelly Jensen, who’s been on the frontlines of documenting and sharing resources to fight bookbanning, said on Bluesky, “The release is purposeful disinformation, with the intent to make folks on the left hate the DOE and agree it should be shut down. Call it what it is.” PEN America responds: PEN America Criticizes “Alarming” and “Dismissive” Language on Book Bans by U.S. Education Department. School Library Journal summarizes responses by Pen America and Every Library, U.S. Dept. of Education Dismisses Book Ban Complaints, Rescinds Agreement in Civil Rights Violations in Forsyth County Book Removals
The DOE is removing prosecution of civil rights complaints because they were effective in fighting book bans. Fighting Public School Book Bans with the Civil Rights Act.
I’m also thinking a lot about the attacks on all DEI programs. These are really attacks on civil rights, and I think we need to start using that terminology. The Trump administration is trying very vigorously to assert that they are protecting civil rights — which is a good clue that they know they are not. The question needs to be asked again and again — whose civil rights are they protecting? Not mine, and not my kids, that’s for sure.
Think about the language you are hearing, and the language you use. It’s a big small thing, but correct it when you can.
Rockingham update: There’s a School Board meeting Monday 1/27. They have a few books up for a vote: Identical, Living Dead Girl, and two books in the Heartstopper series. They voted to retain some volumes in the Heartstopper series last May, so if they are going book by book in the series, the list of books they’ve banned is much longer.
Go take a walk today. Or something. This is going to be a long grueling haul, and tuning out occasionally is essential for maintaining your equilibrium.
Whew. Thank you for the perspective