Scholastic Book Fair Reverses Opt-In Diversity Decision
Scholastic Book Fair Reverses Opt-In Diversity Decision
The "Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice" case strongly featured authors of color and many stories with queer content.
To clarify: the decision they just reversed was the one that took all of those good inclusive books OUT of the regular stock for Book Fairs and only sent them if you specifically opted IN to receive them.
They'll no longer segregate them but they will continue to carry them.
Thank you to the thousands of school librarians who tore into them for having cowed to the overly-vocal bigoted minority that is pushing book bans.
https://www.npr.org/2023/10/25/1208419749/scholastic-book-fair-diverse-stories-apology
Minority is right. From the article:
The Washington Post also reported that the majority of book complaints are filed by just 11 people nationwide.
Bruh I have gotten far worse than that posting just basic information on Reddit… what is this world even?
Librarians know some fascist shit when they see it. They know you don't accommodate hate.
Man, ain't it great how simply existing as a person is political?
The Washington Post also reported that the majority of book compaints are filed by just 11 people nationwide.
What the fuck? I am really tired of having an absurdly vocal minority of people being allowed to have such a disproportionate amount of control over what the rest of us can access.
Shaming works
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Regardless of whether or not Scholastic’s decision was morally right, the impetus to preemptively protect schools and libraries, as well as authors and illustrators, from this kind of pearl-clutching legislative censorship is based in real, factual concerns.
This elective program, called “Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice” was incredibly unpopular, both among authors and first amendment freedom watchdogs like PEN America.
Author Tunisia Moore told Rolling Stone that she’s Black “365 days a year,” and doesn’t get to “opt in to being Black.” Amanda Gorman, the incredible poet who recited one of her poems at President Biden’s inauguration, posted on X about how this decision felt like a “betrayal.” Gorman, who is a Black woman and activist in addition to being a writer, has published children’s stories, one of which, Change Sings, was affected by this policy.
Books like The Girl in the Lake, by India Hill Brown, which is an intergenerational ghost story that addresses the historical racial inequalities around Black people and the ability to learn how to swim, are on the list.
Thunderous, a graphic novel by M. L. Smoker, relates one girl’s struggle to get home as she’s sucked into a world where Lakota history and folklore becomes immediately present and threatening.
It reaffirmed its “commitment” to distribute these titles, and stated that it was working on a “pivot plan” for schools who had already scheduled book fairs for the fall.
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