Are Muslims Going to Join Calls for Censorship in Public School Libraries? I Hope Not

In Columbia County, Georgia, where I live, the daily newspaper in neighboring Augusta, Georgia reported that a resident has been advocating that the Board of Education remove Drama by Raina Telgemeier from its middle school libraries and update its media policy to inform parents that "Media Centers and Teacher Libraries may provide material containing sensitive topics such as sexuality, homosexuality, and/or transgender ideology."

I have previously reported on my county's censorship of reading materials in public schools (more here). I oppose discrimination against LGBTQ people and don't believe the party line in our religion about a lot matters related to sexuality. I'm also opposed to the people who typically advocate for imposing morality. Nevertheless, before spouting off, I bought and read the book.

Most of the book is about drama programs in school, i.e. putting on plays. The characters work hard, do varied tasks and cooperation and teamwork are essential. I had for some reason disliked the drama students in high school. Reading this made me regret my prejudices and wish I'd at least given it a shot.

Comments on "Dear Martin" by Nic Stone

My county's Board of Education decided to exclude Dear Martin by Nic Stone from the list of novels literature teachers can choose to assign to students to read and from its media centers. Upon checking it out from my local library and reading it, I have a lot to say about why I think my county's board of education made a mistake. For the purposes of this blog, however, I urge parents and guardians of every background to read and discuss this book with their children.

The interactions of the characters pose better, more pressing questions than any other piece of Young Adult literature I know. For non-black children growing up in majority white suburban areas, it hopefully will prevent them from asking the first black person they meet when they go to university about their standardized test scores or where they can score weed.