Glad you asked.
I reported here on the challenge to two books in the AP English Literature classes at Plymouth Canton Community Schools -- Toni Morrison's Beloved and Graham Swift's Waterland -- and I did my share of reckoning with the grounds that some people have for removing these books from the classroom. You'll be glad to hear that the school board voted in support of keeping Beloved in the curriculum. Cheers to all of you who stepped up and spoke up! It mattered.
Now, the Swift book is under the spotlight at a unique hearing on its validity. Waterland was the book that the principal literally had students turn in when they were halfway through it for class, sidestepping the usual protocol to ban the book outright. Waterland has been taught in the school district for ten years, but the principal was startled by an excerpt submitted to him by the parents who are leading these book challenges.
Michigan Radio has more on the story. The ACLU of Michigan has urged the district to "respect of the constitutional rights of students" by not getting into the book-banning habit.
In its letter, the ACLU of Michigan reminded the district that although schools have broad discretion in setting curriculum, the U.S. Supreme Court has held repeatedly that banning books because they offend some runs afoul of the First Amendment. While parents have the right to guide their own child’s education, that right does not extend to restricting other students’ educational opportunities.
“Removing the books would not only deny all AP English students the opportunity to read, debate and learn from these two critically acclaimed literary works,” wrote the ACLU of Michigan. “But it would send the message to students that censorship of ideas is permitted in our democracy. Such a lesson contradicts fundamental constitutional values of our county – values that public schools are designed to teach.”
(Aside: I was intrigued to learn that the first banned book that the ACLU defended was James Joyce's Ulysses in 1933.)
The Plymouth Canton hearing on Waterland is slated for this Wednesday, February 8. Those with a connection to the community are encouraged to attend and say your piece before the committee that will vote on whether or not to ban the book.
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