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Umer Siddiqui, 18, holds a pamphlet as he and a group of students discuss the 'The Bluest Eye' during a meeting for their book club, which reads and discusses books that have been banned in various Texas school districts, at the University Branch Library in Sugar Land, Texas, US on April 15, 2023.
Callaghan O'Hare/Reuters
The US education department says books aren't banned but 'school districts, in consultation with parents and community stakeholders, have established commonsense processes by which to evaluate and remove age-inappropriate materials'
WASHINGTON DC, USA – The Trump administration’s US Education Department said on Friday, January 24, it dismissed 11 complaints related to book bans by local school districts that the department received during the Biden administration.
Why it’s important
Free speech advocacy group PEN America notes that books are “under profound attack” in the US, adding it counted over 10,000 book bans in public schools in the 2023-24 school year. In recent years, several laws passed in Republican-controlled states have sought to restrict books.
PEN America says that books being targeted the most in such bans are those by authors of color, LGBTQ+ writers and women, dealing with topics about racism, sexuality, gender and history. Supporters of the restrictions say the step curtails age-inappropriate content.
Key quote
The Education Department said on Friday it initiated a review of cases pending at the department after Republican US President Donald Trump took office on January 20 to succeed Democratic former President Joe Biden.
“Attorneys quickly confirmed that books are not being ‘banned,’ but that school districts, in consultation with parents and community stakeholders, have established commonsense processes by which to evaluate and remove age-inappropriate materials,” the department said in a statement.
Context
In 2023, Biden announced a coordinator to train schools on how to deal with book bans and the impact they have on LGBTQ kids. The Education Department said on Friday it will remove that position.
Trump has signed executive orders aimed at dismantling diversity programs, including at the Education Department. Civil rights advocates say such programs address historic inequities against marginalized groups. – Rappler.com
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