The Disappearing Books

In the state of Texas, many books about race, sexuality, and gender are being banned from public school book shelves and from libraries across the entire state.

But NBC News reports that, in the Houston suburb of Katy, Texas, a 17-year-old girl has hidden the fact that she is queer from her parents for years, and now is having her safe haven of books about characters from all sorts of backgrounds taken away from her and many other students like her.

School districts all over the state are facing pressure from both parents and the possibility of being criminally charged. But, in contrast, the schools bought these books to “diversify the content available to public school children.”

A parent from Katy says that society is “sexualizing our precious children.” This parent also believes that books containing LGBTQ+ relationships are “causing children to improperly question their gender identities and sexual orientations.”

Another Katy resident parent suggested that the district remove Michelle Obama’s children’s biography as it “promotes reverse racism against white people.” More parents in the Dallas suburb of Prosper want to remove a picture book for children about Black olympian, Wilma Rudolph, as the book has “mentions of racism.” And finally in the city of Austin, in the Eanes Independent School District, parents want to remove four copies of books that mention racism, which include “How to Be an Antiracist,” by Ibram X. Kendi, who was a #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, and replace them with books of the Bible.

But the students in these communities have something to say about it. Many queer students living in these areas feel “unwelcome” in their own communities because parents are pushing “the idea that it’s inappropriate for teenagers to read LGBTQ+ sexual relationships.” 17-year-old bisexual Katy student Amber Kaul says, “I think reading those books helps kids realize that the feelings that they’ve already had are valid and OK, and I think that’s what a lot of parents are opposed to.”

The situation has even gotten to the point where teachers might get criminally charged, as in the state of Texas any school staff member who provides students with these “banned” books could possibly face charges.

But the books that the parents want banned are not making children question their sexuality. The children are just reading books that happen to have LGBTQ+ characters and storylines. But children who are LGBTQ+ might pick up the books and read them because they have characters with similar characteristics, lives, and situations as them, which might make them more inclined and interested to read them.

Also, some of the books in this article mention racism, and even cases of “reverse racism.” But the mentions of racism in Wilma Rudolph’s and Michelle Obama’s books are not there to put anybody down. They are there to help show people the hoops that they had to jump through, as well as the struggles that they had to endure, in order to get to where they are today.

To read the full article about the situation in Texas, as reported by NBC News, click the link: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-books-race-sexuality-schools-rcna13886