A friend said my view on book bans was too simple, and they were right.

I used to think it was just about 'bad' content, but they pointed out how often it's about silencing specific voices, like the push to remove 'The Bluest Eye' from a Texas school district. I started looking at the political groups behind the complaints, not just the books. What's a ban in your area that's clearly about more than the story?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_oliver1mo ago

Saw something similar in my own town where a parent group went after a book about a kid with two dads. They kept saying it was about 'age appropriate' stuff but then I looked at their facebook page and it was all posts from a specific national group that targets LGBTQ topics in schools. What was the specific reason your friend gave that made you change your mind about the whole thing being about protecting kids?

mark6761mo ago

Yeah, a friend just flat out said "it's not about the books, it's about making being gay seem wrong.

burns.ruby1mo ago

My friend literally shrugged and said "look, I just don't want my kid thinking it's okay to be gay" and that was it. That was the whole mask off moment. We were at a coffee shop and she just said it so casually like it was no big deal. I had been nodding along to the "age appropriate" stuff for weeks before that. Felt like an idiot once I realized the whole thing was just dressed up in nicer words. Now every time I see one of those school board meetings I just wonder how many people are being honest about it like she was.