Wando HS Provides Lesson in Book Banning

It's not even Banned Books Week yet, and our local rag is already preparing for it. That's why a plaintive complaint from the Charleston-area Fraternal Order of Police chapter, Tri-County Lodge #3, was slapped down with "An Abridged History of Book Bans" in South Carolina. It's an issue that liberals love--as long as they approve of the books. 

Can you imagine the outrage if, for example, the freshmen English teachers at Wando had put St. Paul's "Letter to the Romans" on the summer reading list? 

Some books are more equal than others.

"A local Fraternal Order of Police chapter asked schools to remove 'All American Boys' by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely and 'The Hate U Give' by Angie Thomas from summer reading lists at Wando High School." Their request was met with disdain and disparagement. The reporter implied that probably the members hadn't read the books in question.

"The American Library Association put "The Hate U Give" on its list of Top 10 Most Challenged Books for 2017, although the challenges in other parts of the country had more to do with the book's depictions of drug use, profanity and offensive language, according to the ALA. In addition to the shooting, the first chapter includes curse words, a reference to condoms, and depictions of teenagers smoking marijuana and taking MDMA. In the Charleston area, critics are focusing on the book's portrayal of police officers." Gee, I wonder why.

In other words, one of the reasons that the book was selected was that it makes the latest trendy lists of challenged books.

Wando followed the usual protocol in response to complaints: "the school has kept the original four books on the English I CP list and added four more books to the list, bringing the number of options to eight." Sadly, this response does not remove the district's stamp of approval on the books concerned.

Unfortunately, it's not the books that are the problem: it's the attitude of the teachers. Are they prepared to be even-handed in their discussion of these books? What if the teacher hates police?

Let's use another example. Most educated parents believe that knowledge of the writings of Karl Marx should be part of any study of history or economics. It makes a difference, especially at the high-school level, whether the teacher is a committed Marxist, doesn't it?

Comments from Sara Peck, a teacher at the independent University School of the Lowcountry, won't make the police feel any better. "Maybe (the Fraternal Order of Police) could spend less time censoring books and more time teaching empathy among themselves — or how to not kill black people," Peck said. "It seems there could be a better use of their time."

Can you hear your disdain, Ms. Peck? Probably not.

Peck "read the book aloud with eighth-grade students." Sorry, but reading aloud seems more fitted to fourth graders. Can't her students read? 

Who got to read aloud the juicy part with "drug use, profanity and offensive language" as well as "curse words, a reference to condoms, and depictions of teenagers smoking marijuana and taking MDMA"? That must have made those thirteen year olds feel really grown up. But then perhaps this teacher expects them to use such language as normal speech in her classroom.

The reporter suggests that "Parents, politicians and activists have been trying to keep certain books out of the hands of students for decades in the U.S. South Carolina is no exception." 

No, they've been trying to keep school districts from giving certain books the stamp of approval. Anyone with a brain knows teenagers will read whatever they want.

"Finding Your Activism" doesn't sound as though it will be a lecture friendly to the police either.

P.S. Twentieth-Century Fox is filming "The Hate U Give," having been inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. I did not make that last part up--that's what the company says.