Book banning battles hit North Carolina schools

Across the nation, Republicans are campaigning for the censorship of hundreds of books that highlight race, gender, and sexual orientation. 

Thirty-five states have introduced bills or taken other steps to censor how teachers educate students, denying students the freedom to learn. In North Carolina, Republicans are mirroring the GOP’s coordinated national effort of manufacturing outrage, instead of focusing on school funding and pandemic relief. 

• According to The American Library Association, there were 330 cases reported of books being challenged from September to November 2021.
  
• In response to the GOP’s censorship campaign, communities are speaking up at school board meetings to combat the erasure of historical figures, movements, and events from our nation’s history.
  
• Recently, a group made up of suburban moms called Red Wine and Blue, has launched an interactive map showing where books have either been banned or are being banned across the nation, including North Carolina.

From Red Wine and Blue’s website:

Extremist politicians and outside groups are attacking our kids’ education. In fact, they’ve become SO extreme that they’ve resorted to book banning. They’ve even tried to ban books about Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks.

Well, suburban women aren’t having it….Every kid should be equipped for the 21st century, and that means learning real history (not fairy tales) and respecting people across our differences. It means ensuring every kid feels safe to learn and thrive at school.

The current attempt to erase our nation’s past is rooted from the same efforts to censor our educators, dilute our voting power, and attack our most vulnerable communities.

With years of denying North Carolina classrooms resources, Republicans are once again pushing another harmful measure at the expense of North Carolina families, educators and students.

Bottom Line:

Instead of attempting to take away our children’s opportunity to learn from the mistakes of our past to help create a better future, Republicans should support educators who are ensuring every child gets a quality education and parents who are encouraging their students to become the best version of us.