Earlier today — in response to this morning’s story on public comments at last night’s Board of Education meeting, about a Staples High School library exhibit of banned books — “06880” commenter Tara Tesoriero wrote:
“Sorry, but some commenters here are misinformed. These books are neither classics nor ‘literature.’ I will send a few examples to Dan that I think he should publish. Let’s see if he does.”
She sent them. Here they are:
First Amendment protects Dan, but this is not in good taste.
Thank you, Dan. I’d have been very happy to have my high schoolers access these materials at Staples if they’d wanted.
Dan — I don’t think this belongs on your blog!
When I was in Coleytown JHS (late 60s), I checked out Isaac Asimov’s “The Human Body” (published 1963) from the school library, and noticed that a few pages had been neatly cut out with a razor knife.
I assumed, even then, this was done by the library because there were either some photos or description — probably concerning reproduction — considered too explicit for early teenage readers in those days. Just as what Dan published here is too explicit for a school library today. (And, I hope, tomorrow…and the next day…)
My point: schools and school libraries make these kinds of judgements all the time This is not “book banning,” but it needs to be done sensitively and not in response to political or religious extremist movements.
I believe some old-fashioned rubrics from the courts in my day were “community standards,” and “redeeming social value.” In other words, what’s ok in Westport might not be okay in the Bible Belt and explicit language in a Philip Roth novel might be okay for the school library, while similar language in a trashy romance novel might not be ok.
The problem is, what is censorship, who gets to decide and most critically, where do you draw the line? The old world book encyclopedia included a full description of the human body, including many types of illustrations and overlays. Should those be excised? Literature and many types of art, including photography and film, talk about and depict human sexuality and erotic activity, Again, all part of the human story since day one. Should we start redacting novels and paintings? Like it or not, libraries are the safest environment for young people to learn about this dimension of human history and their own lives. Surely you must realize that in many homes, parents refuse to provide any information to their teens and often make them feel judged and guilty for just asking. If you prohibit access to vital information, you are forcing teens to seek it out from much, much worse sources.
Russell – Libraries and schools draw these lines all the time. Sometimes intelligently, as in removing obvious garbage, like anything of the Alex Jones ilk, but allowing controversial and even offensive material, like David Irving. Sometimes stupidly, like removing Darwin…or Huckleberry Finn. If you take away the right to make a dumb decision, that’s just as bad as censorship.
Hello Peter. I couldn’t agree with you more. Towns vet and hire superintendents and librarians to attend to this task. We trust that they will add to their collections age appropriate materials that students needs for information may not be able to access any other way. I’m not against the community being able to challenge certain materials, but as you know, there is a nationwide effort targeting LGBTQ materials for removal and it has gotten out of hand. I trust the folks Westport has hired to make these decisions and I say, let them do their jobs.
Kids see this type of material on the internet if they seek it out. It IS part of our society, First Amendment, etc. That said, question the value of showcasing this content in a high school display case celebrating reading when there are so many other materials – both classic & more recent – that could demonstrate & celebrate reading without being so provocative. That is, if celebrating reading is actually the goal?
I don’t think that this should be a library exhibit. I am shocked!!!
And, I see standards imposed by a school library not as “protecting” children, because they can see absolutely anything and everything online, but to set an example of what’s acceptable and age appropriate in an educational venue.
At my wife’s charter school, a dad came by wearing a sweatshirt that said: “The only job I want is a blowjob.” A school administrator told him to leave and never wear something like that at the school again.
Society needs guidelines.
I applaud 👏👏👏 you Dan for all your posts on this topic and for never shying away from any “controversial” topics on YOUR blog! Thank you, for all you do, to keep our town informed! You rock!
Firearms and alcohol are legal in CT, yet I would vehemently oppose the school promoting either (even though children could potentially see both of them online). The schools need to protect children from dangerous practices. They are children – high school students in 9th grade may be as young as 13, and many may have younger siblings who also access school libraries. These practices include using dating apps to coordinate anonymous “hook up” encounters potentially with adults (promoted by one of the books in question), or engaging in potentially physically dangerous “S&M” types of sexual activity like “inserting” large objects (also promoted by at least one of the books). Young children may not exercise restrained judgement, and so parents rely on adults such as school administrators to do so on their behalf. As an aside, I don’t believe most of this relates to who people voted for, but maybe I’m mistaken given earlier comments on the related article asking legitimately concerned parents to leave their homes and families, and move out of Connecticut.
For those who wish for their children to be exposed to these activities and pictures, there is nothing stopping you (except laws in extreme cases) from doing so at home.
I sit on the Board of Education and we tried to add this to the agenda last week as part of the normal process. The Chair decided to veto this. Usually 2-3 requests from Board Members would be sufficient. We then tried again to have a discussion about the District’s policy in front of the community and in public. This was voted down. The public were allowed to speak for 2 mins each. Board of Education members were not. The only way for Board members to add to the debate was to go against the process and speak when we were not allowed to. We should have nothing to hide about having this debate in public.
The fact that we had a totally inappropriate Executive Session behind closed doors and away from the public is plainly wrong in my view.
I want to be very clear – we were NOT advised by attorney that we could not have this discussion in public.
For the record – these books were not banned in Westport and several have been in our school library for years. However the school explicitly promoted these in a very provocative way. That offends some parents when the content includes promotion of sex apps, contains content with adult/minor sexual interactions and graphics of oral sex.
I have disagreed plenty of times with a number of people that stood up and raised concern about the displays last night. However to simply tell them to move away to red states is hardly the inclusive tone we all want to promote in this town.
We should engage in public debate and listen to multiple views in public meetings.
While we should certainly “engage in public debate listen to multiple views” we should be careful about a small, if well organized, group hijacking meetings to promote their agendas.
It is ironic that (in addition to their objections to CRT) the group that leads this charge says they oppose censorship, when they actively try to censor material in the school library. They want a diversity of opinion presented to students, but their idea of that is to allow them to criticize those with who they are uncomfortable. They seem to want to just tolerance as a willingness to accept their intolerance.
As a former RTM member, I know that most people don’t like to attend meetings. Most people want to live their lives, raise their children, and let municipal life run smoothly in the shadows without having to think about it. The roads get plowed, the schools remain good, and property taxes remain fairly stable. So when a small but vocal group of people with a specific agenda try to take over meetings, it might be best to keep in mind that they are well organized even if they aren’t representative of the vast majority of Westport residents.
Why stop with silly pictures and words on paper? How about the open minded school board allow real life demonstrations with real people….perhaps the Staples Players could do something and the Staples media lab could get involved?
C’mon people, lets really make Staples “The School That Rocked”
The literature is and should be available to anyone who CHOOSES to read it. Depriving children and teens more likely is just sheltering. Not reality. They need to make their own choices and guess what? They will
I have not seen the exhibit except for what Dan has posted, but it is interesting that there is such a vehement reaction to the graphics, even the suggestion that Dan should censor his blog and not post the banned graphics because one reader decides they are inappropriate. Yet, there are many such detailed and graphic descriptions available in literature. In other words: words. What now for the school reading lists? What do we do about the independent reading of a student’s choice? As I understand it, this was an exhibition of banned books, not a promotion for what students should read. There is an issue for discussion here, but a public one, not behind closed doors unless the family closes them at home.
Obviously not content for the youngest children, but i found my middle schoolers greatly benefitted from open sexual health education that included similar imagery. Banning books is not the answer and only leads to specific targets based on the personal values of the squeaky wheels. Better to raise children who understand context.
I’m genuinely interested in what you mean by similar imagery and in what way did you find it beneficial. (Not being facetious, but truly wanting to understand)
sorry- “like” by mistake. No offense intended but I wanted to “like” Michelle Garvey’s comment.
If you do not want your child to read these books, tell them not not read those books or check them out of the stacks. You as parents are the greatest influence on them, their beliefs and behaviors. Influence their behavior, not force your beliefs on others.
Teaching children about their bodies and how they work helps them grow into people who understand the changes that happen over our lives, how to expect and understand the differences that they see in themselves and the students around them, and also helps them from a health perspective. (Do you know how many people in this country who think women pee out of their vagina or can control their menstrual flow so it doesn’t happen during certain hours of the day? This is what happens when people don’t even know the basics of anatomy and bodily functions.)
High school students, especially in Westport, are aware, sophisticated, and intelligent. A book might happen to explain or even tell them what they feel isn’t abnormal, but it isn’t going to “turn them gay,” plant the idea” that they’re transgender, or influence them to take up with a HOT DAD. (Hint, feelings and orientations are intrinsic, not extrinsic. We are born the way we are.) A child who is already experiencing those feelings and having that curiosity needs to be guided in a healthy way that doesn’t cause them to hate or judge themselves, understanding they just where fall on the human spectrum of characteristics. We can inform without grooming, and to try and portray people who believe in educating children like this is disingenuous at best, and from some comments here and elsewhere, I’d consider some of the folks in the discussion to be bordering on dangerous and delusional.
I think we agree on the overall need to educate and inform our students, with maybe not feeling that we’re 100% certain about personal situations or contexts that are outside the basics of what being knowledgeable and validated means.
As someone else said, we have to meet the kids where they are. By and large, by middle school even, our children are not as unaware or innocent as we’d like to believe. (I went to Catholic school through 8th grade, graduating well over 30 years ago, by this point, and while we weren’t as accepting of differences, we knew much of the more salacious, if inaccurate, details of the mechanisms.) My middle schooler is aware of others who are at different points on the maturation and interest spectrum, and we do have open discussions so that they’re not getting an inaccurate understanding of human sexuality from a precocious 6th grader. (There was a student regaling others at lunch about the sexual content they were accessing on the internet at home and how they thought the mechanics of it all worked. The curiosity was not bound by facts or information on how to properly understand what they were seeing, that’s for sure.)
I also agree that the term “slutty” is pejorative; one’s worth is not measured by their body count, full stop. However, in reading the paragraph after the subtitle where it appears, it’s clear that the author is saying it’s not an OK word in any context and instead reflects poorly on the person using it. It’s not introducing an unknown term, but it was setting an appropriate tone around how to react to it’s use.
https://imgur.com/a/aNMGyxY
I have volunteered in our school libraries and have engaged with the professionals on a regular basis, and can say without a doubt that they are skilled and aware, and are constantly reviewing and updating the materials that are available. If something is wrong or out of date, they’ll clearly flag it as content that should be reviewed for removal or replacement.
Additionally, they (and the educators, administrators, counseling and support staff,) make a point to get to know our students on a personal basis. We don’t teach “facts” without putting them into context for any other subject – think of if we didn’t detail all the conditions and exceptions that we learned in chemistry class. (Knowing that 2 chemicals can be mixed isn’t useful without knowing that they can cause a dangerous situation if they’re not combined in a specific order.) Applying that to these books – telling someone that humans go through hormonal changes that cause puberty and maturation along with urges – without normalizing these changes to our bodies and all the foibles and quirks that come along with them makes us human, can contribute to them feeling shame and self-consciousness, as well as guilt, about absolutely normal bodily functions.
Academic facts aren’t always easily untangled from material that people think is scandalous or obscene. (People think girls shoulders are titillating!) Emotion is normal, validation is healthy, and presenting the information in a manner that demonstrates the spectrum of the human condition is also normal and healthy.
So well said! I hope people like you continue to impact and be present in our schools.
WOW! This blog really rocked the boat, Dan. Sex education, information about sexual behavior, or anything that depicts it, will always cause a stir. One of my volunteer jobs is pricing donated books at the Westport Library. During the years that I have done this job, I have become accustomed to the blatant sexuality that many of these books contain. Teens read about sex all the time. The words are on the pages of their novels. These same teens have been exposed to sexuality in all the sitcoms they have watched growing up. Sexuality has become mainstream instead of hidden. Is that wrong? I personally think it is healthy. Not everyone thinks that way. It’s what makes the world go round. Thanks, Dan.
“Book ’em, Danno!”
What are the titles and authors of these particular books? I want to see if they are available at the standard bookstores/online sellers before commenting further. And here I was concerned about referencing Jean Genet’s taste for “rough trade”! But, then, he was French dontcha know.
NOTE: Defining porn, as SCOTUS keeps trying, is a shifty thing as it depends on “community standards,” “presentation,” and “redeeming social value.” Potter Stewart’s “I know ‘hard-core’ pornography when I see it” (from 1964) is long-past its due date as a legal thing, unless Sam Alito decides to resurrect a 17th-century British law. (Cf the 2nd half of William Bradford’s Of Plimouth Plantation — if you dare! I’m fairly certain there is a copy of it in the SHS library.)
I must say that from what I saw, things would have been a lot clearer to me as a Westport teenager — and, perhaps, the several women in classes of 1965 and 1966 that I know of who got pregnant and “went away,” wouldn’t have gotten pregnant when they did.
As to it’s appropriateness, Dan is just abiding by the old newspaper adage: “All the news that MUST be printed.”
– 30 –
This is pornographic filth and reflects terribly on the Westport Public Schools. It has NO place in our schools. The BOE needs to discuss publicly and take immediate action to remove.
Parents have a right to be concerned. There should be lines drawn with what is promoted and made readily available in public schools. That includes personal agenda, political agendas, and certain theories that are forced upon our children, either as a part of a curriculum, or teacher personal agenda. I remember when we got the internet in public schools. There was web filtering to block explicit content. Is that no longer the case? Can students now search for whatever they want on school computers? Porn? Firearms? Drugs? If there are blocks on the computers, then yet another double standard…
Were you ok with a president who said he can grab women by the pussy and cheated on his third wife with a porn star? In the history textbooks now! That got voted in! Be careful what you preach!
I have been reading the comments about Banned Books since the controversy began and find the blog posters are complaining about what is displayed in brown paper covers and not displayed with pages open to the graphically explicit images that Dan posted for all of us to understand the controversy.
It seems that many people who have not actually opened the books and read them are reacting to graphics that the Board of Education did not show. In an effort to educate students about what is being banned, the Board of Ed. presented how the 1st Amendment is being restricted all around the country in schools and libraries, not too mention how some publishers self-censor what is being published because states such as Texas purchase books in staggering amounts.
PEN has defended the right to publish books for ALL to read at the reader’s discussion and, if parents talk about this subject with their children, to make it a family choice. An example of these banned books is published by PEN. https://pen.org/banned-in-the-usa/ For a more detailed list, including Noble Prize Winner Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood and John Green: https://pen.org/banned-in-the-usa/#authors
Should Shakespeare’s poetry and plays be read and performed by hooded actors with their voices muffled? Should each published volume contain a notice that his words may offend? Or it is because we need a glossary to understand his language and its use from the 16th century. You may see such and example in Henry IV, Part II, Act II, Scene I with the current day modern English translation. https://www.rsc.org.uk/shakespeare/language/slang-and-sexual-language.
As it has been pointed out in previous postings, we accept the gross images and words spoken by politicians, as well as the racist, bigoted, stereotypes and anti-Semitic rants that students and hear see on the news daily and are easily accessible on TV and online. Yet the Board of Ed. is being criticized in vile terms for allowing students to choose books for themselves as informed readers without being exposed to the public display of the sexual images that Dan posted so we are all free to criticize and discuss it with an understanding of what we are talking about. Even the coward who towered over the Staples journalist in an effort to intimidate a young woman who wanted to report what was happening, had that freedom.
Why would the BOE not have a discussion like this one?…Everyone here has been civil and informative….forget party and politics…take on all topics of controversy like educated adults and talk about it……What is the BOE afraid of? Put this book thing on an agenda and have civil dialogue…just my two cents
Jimmy, First, the board did not say they would not have a public discussion. They said they would not have one yesterday while the current complaints from 8 or 9 parents was undergoing the process. After reading Mr. Scarice’s letter on the subject that is all very clear. Secondly, I guess it depends what your view of civility is but I heard accusations of pedophilia, indoctrination, sexualizing and grooming with some specifically directed at our Superintendent. That’s not civil and and it’s also not genuine.
Thanks Jimmy. We should not be afraid to discuss important issues that matter to our community and parents. We can disucss and disagree from time to time – and that is ok. I think the BOE should have the courage to discuss important issues like this. When we talk we can learn, listen and see other perspectives. Even if we don’t reach agreeement we can learn from the journey.
These aren’t text books used in the classroom. They are simply controversial for some and available in the library of our high school. I don’t understand the big deal. Personally, I would want the opportunity to guide my kids through such topics, offer opinions and answer any questions. I think banning, shielding, bubble wrapping them is the wrong approach. Perhaps the library can develop a database of kids not allowed access to controversial books.
The above book excerpts with text that Dan posted for me describing “why are gay men slutty?” “Doing the sex,” these are from a book that actually is used in our children’s 11th grade health class. This same book also details how to go an adult sex apps to meet adults for casual anonymous sex which I think we can all agree is very dangerous. Why this is still in our library and why this is a selection included in the 11th grade health class curriculum is seriously behind any comprehension to me.
I remember a Christian Science adherent being excused from Bedford Jr High biology. I’m not sure how that would be achieved in these circumstances, and it was a long time ago in what is now Kings Highway Elementary.
1. The books are not mandatory. For those who object those books, just make sure your kid does not check them out and god forbid read them. I want to thank all those “concerned” parents for your “deep concerns about my kids” but I don’t need your help. I will worry about parenting my kids.
2. For those demanding removal of these books from the high school library – what about the Bible? should we remove the Bible from every school’s library, elementary, middle and high school (and from every hotel room in the US)?
Read it – the Bible contains rape description,prostitutions, pimping women and what not.
Examples (and there are many) – “When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister. Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt and lusted after her lovers there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses. Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed your young breasts.” (Ezekiel 23:18-21)
Solomon’s Song of Songs could put any Fifty Shades of Grey passage to shame. “Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread abroad. Let my lover come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.” (4:16)
Or the graphics of Judges 19. I can go on
The Ezekiel passage is metaphorical, describing Israel’s regular pattern of unfaithfulness towards God throughout its history. It is admittedly colorful, but only (in the classic manner of an Old Testament prophet) in order to reveal the depth and severity of sin among God’s chosen people. And it furthermore ends in grace, with God showing His faithfulness towards Israel despite its “playing the whore” repeatedly (through idol worship, honoring false gods, etc.). By all means, yes, let us teach that in our schools.
Can we teach that Doanld Trump said he csn grab women by the pussy because he is rich and famous?
Hey Dan-There were more pictures I sent you that you posted earlier-why were some removed? Could you please explain? Thanks in advance?
I removed one other graphic because, as someone pointed out, this is accessible to ALL readers — including those much younger than high school.
Dan – as ALWAYS thanks for being prepared to act as the Town Square for open and public discussion in our town. The service you pay to Westport is huge. Thank you.
Your decision to remove a photo previously posted and be respectful of an incoming request shows how complicated this subject is and why it warrants public discussion. BOE members shouldn’t try and hide behind legal arguments or suggest it was advice from the BOE attorney – as this is not what has gone on here.
Is it appropriate to promote graphic photos containing oral sex and material pertaining to minor / adult sex to 13 and 14 year olds – but not to younger children?
These book were not just in the library – that were explicitly promoted to students daring them to engage in the content.
I believe there is a difference between making content available to students and explicitly promoting it to students.
It may not be resolved in an initial public discussion – but it would have given the opportunity for our school administration to describe the current policy and for BOE members to make some comments and ask questions on the record.
This issue certainly won’t be resolved with silence from our elected leaders.
Very fair point, Dan. Your point also notes that children who take the book from the library may bring it home running the risk of exposing it to younger children.
There are two points here, one is the material itself which is obscene and in certain respects could potentially be very dangerous. Second, it begs the question why is the school affirmatively promoting this. Are they seeking to promote some agenda? If they are, they should be forthright about it and not act with stealth and be defensive when parents ask their elected BoE members for a full and transparent explanation.
Would you find descriptions of heterosexual sex obscene? I guess Masters and Johnson book is too graphic? This discussion is very healthy.
Did you have a problem with Donald Trump saying he can grab women by the pussy, and getting caught having an affair with a porn star? Our kids had to call him their president! Let’s. ban HIM from influencing our children!
Thank you Dan and I entirely agree with what you did taking the pictures down btw. For the other commenters, is that ok? High school students are as young as 13 (and much younger kids have access to the high school library), but from what I’ve read in comments some folks would be comfortable papering their nurseries with these pictures. Is 13 the cutoff for explicit drawings, instruction on sexual practices, and sex apps? 10? Help me understand.
I saw a comment on drugs and firearms here too. There is a difference between books that contain scenes or references to firearms (War and Peace !) or drug use (any book about Amy Winehouse), and one that spells out to kids explicitly how to obtain and use them in a malicious way and written as an instruction manual. At least one of the “banned books” (which have never been banned) does that. The pictures and instruction, for me, crosses the line and is not something I feel adults in charge of a school should be promoting for children.
Good lord, the presence of these books in a high school library is not about “promoting” anything. It’s about providing information to high schoolers who may not have access to it elsewhere (as evidenced on this thread). And not just information, but information presented in an informative, casual, and nonjudgmental way — minus many of the damaging tropes common in pornography and without huge helpings of fear and shame. Just because *you* don’t find, say, same-sex intimacy appealing doesn’t make it “obscene,” nor does a drawing or two. Meeting kids where they are is important, and if you think what’s posted above is more problematic than what is readily available on any iPhone, you’re living in a fantasy world.
How very interesting, Stacy, because my first thought about those illustrations was how innocent they are, they do not fulfill the USSC’s ‘prurient interest’ standard for indecency.
First of all, there is nothing more tantalizing to a teenager than saying something is banned or forbidden. It probably makes it 10 times more appealing. Secondly, if these parents weren’t making such a fuss about it, most kids would have passed by without even a glance. Thirdly, is there really anyone so naive out there to think that a book can “turn” someone gay, or encourage them to do things they have no interest in doing? Plain old peer pressure, which has been around as long as there have been teenagers, has been doing that job without any help from published materials. Next, unless you’re keeping your child off of social media, they are most likely bombarded with much more alarming images and stories (frankly, that holds true for the nightly news as well). And finally, the only truly harmful behavior is lack of communication between a parent and a child, or heaping shame on them for being curious or for just being who they are.
The wanna-be censors are doing for today’s young people what Frederick Wertham and the Legion of Decency did for folks like me when we were young—making the forbidden fruit appear more desirable.
Wertham crusaded against comics; the Legion of Decency rated films, and the ones they didn’t want us to see were exactly the ones on our must-see list.
So no one can answer whether or not there are web filters on the school computers?
And is there any clear answer as to how the books made it into the library in the first place? Such as who ordered them who was involved in approving them how much they cost whether there are any conflicts of interest in that process etcetc
Tom Scarice has answered this in a lenghty letter.
Josh, were you this passionate after the Uvalde shooting? Should kids under 18 be able to buy a gun? Gay sex kills people?
Remember America was founded by puritans. And they haven’t evolved yet.
As it is I who named a number of classic novels banned by someone,.somewhere at some time ,allow me this .
Very few have ever authored an “instant classic” novel.
This takes time and perspective to truly appreciate a work that may be well ahead of its era.
Ask Margaret Mitchell and Harper Lee both of whom had their books banned by narrow mindedness and misunderstanding.
Let’s just wait and see.
Soon they will ban history textbooks that do not make America look exceptional.
Today I passed a guy who was holding a sign downtown (I hope Dan posts the picture I sent him!) that said “God is not cool with the killing of the little ones and stop the pervert evil teaching in public schools try math and reading.”
Now clearly he is a kin of the book banners. But I also thought it was fascinating that (as poorly as he wrote) he wanted math and reading (clearly a reading list of his choosing) taught but didn’t think to mention history, science, or civics. Of course, he also seems completely unaware of Westport school’s enviable position nationally, in terms of educating our children.
These people are completely disingenuous, which makes Mr Harrington’s tortured comments seem a little forced.
“Seemed” a little forced? Nay, TIS! “A hit, a palpable hit,” Chris.
To lighten the mood and have a little chuckle, here’s a classic in the Mark Twain storytelling style — James Thurber’s The Day The Damn Broke, with one of JT’s icoic illustrations:
https://loa-shared.s3.amazonaws.com/static/pdf/Thurber_Dam_Broke.pdf
The “Cliff’s Notes” gloss: it’s about people who are SO convinced they are right that they ignore common sense, ignore facts, and can not SEE what their own eyes show them. “Herd mentality” is the name for it now. At least Thurber’s characters, as he tells it, were embarrassed about it all for two whole years after!
The Library of America is a glorious undertaking, many parts of which, especially the officially out of print versions its volume selections reprint, are available online for free. Google author & loa & pdf. Access to their own volumes is by subscription.
Yeah, I know. Even calling James Thurber to mind dates me to the Westport of Peter DeVries of The New Yorker. Cf our host’s prior article on Westport arts: https://06880danwoog.com/2013/10/24/a-very-artsy-weekend-ahead-fotos-tk/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_De_Vries
Just paying back to my hometown a bit of the education its schools provided me. Shall we all do that?
Which president of the United States of America said he could grab women by the genitals? A PRESIDENT said that and was STILL elected! The same people who voted for a person who said he can assault women sexually, are complaining about gay sex depicted in books. Let that sink in.
Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene care more about gay sex in books than school shootings. We all know that. Is this who we are? Your kids will not become gay or transgender because they find a book in the school’s library, anymore than they will become straight by looking at their dad’s old Playboy. Is looking at your dad’s Playboy condoning pornography?
Look at the list of banned books: LGBTQ oriented.
Learning about ourselves is education. Learning about banned books and why people wanted them banned throughout history is learning . I remember learning about why some people in Germany wanted books, especially history bookd, banned. It made me the passionate person I am today.
Did you know there are religious groups that are calling for the banning of these bools in schools? They also want to remove history textbooks that do not make America look exceptional!
Westport’s vocal local yokels want to turn Staples into Our Lady of Perpetual Darkness. I hope the Democratic majority on the BOE will use their mandate to crush this parochial wailing.