Black baseball legends Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, and Roberto Clemente—and their triumphs in the face of racism—are apparently not appropriate reading for students in one large Florida district.
There were at least 2,532 individual instances of book banning tracked from July 2021 to June 2022, which impacted 1,648 titles, according to anti-censorship advocacy group PEN America. The vast majority of these titles were written by or about LGBTQ people or people of color.
If people think of themselves less like members of partisan political tribes and more like members of a shared community, the culture wars can begin to recede.
According to PEN America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to free expression, more than 190 "educational gag orders" -- or bills designed to limit academic and educational speech or discussions -- have been introduced in at least 41 states since 2021.
As the Florida measure critics call the "Don't Say Gay" bill awaits final approval, a new curriculum transparency law requires schools to list library books and reading materials.
