Former President Barack Obama is speaking out against the book bans plaguing school libraries, thanking librarians for being on the frontlines.
Obama took to Twitter on Monday with a letter he penned for all librarians nationwide, conveying his disapproval and disappointment in the country’s current government officials banning some books that shaped his life, mentioning writers like Mark Twain and Toni Morison.
“Today, some of the books that shaped my life — and the lives of so many others — are being challenged by people who disagree with certain ideas or perspectives,” he wrote. “It’s no coincidence that these ‘banned books’ are often written by or feature people of color, indigenous people, and members of the LGBTQ+ community — though there have also been unfortunate instances in which books by conservative authors or books containing ‘triggering’ words or scenes have been targets for removal. Either way, the impulse seems to be to silence rather than engage, rebut, learn from or seek to understand views that don’t fit our own.”
The former president emphasized the importance of the younger generation reading material that challenges their own viewpoints and ideas.
He also noted the irony in the country’s politicians’ attempt to censor certain voices and ideas, yet the nation was “built on freedom of expression.”
“It’s also important to understand that the world is watching,” Obama wrote. “If America…allows certain voices and ideas to be silenced, why should other countries go out their way to protect them? Ironically, it is Christian and other religious texts — the sacred texts that some calling for book bannings in this country to want to defend — that have often been the first target of censorship and book banning efforts.”
He thanked the librarians for ensuring everyone can access material with a “range of viewpoints, opinions and ideas,” especially in a “harsh political climate.”
Today, some of the books that shaped my life—and the lives of so many others—are being challenged by people who disagree with certain ideas or perspectives. And librarians are on the front lines, fighting every day to make the widest possible range of viewpoints, opinions, and… pic.twitter.com/txhCTfH3Gh
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 17, 2023
All across America, politicians, especially Conservatives, have been targeting thousands of books that feature themes of LGBTQ+, race, racism, physical violence, health and well-being, etc. They claim it’s to protect the children’s education, but these delusional Republicans have made it very clear they’re fighting the “woke agenda.”
Some books written by Black authors that were banned include “Cast: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson, “Beloved” by Toni Morrison, “Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot” by Mikki Kendall, “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas, “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou, “Tupac: Resurrection, 1971-1996” by Tupac Shakur, “New Kid” by Jerry Craft, Assata: An Autobiography” by Assata Shakur, “The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story” by Nikole Hannah-Jones and “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson.
Early this summer, poet Amanda Gorman discovered her children’s book, “The Hill We Climb,” also her speech at President Joe Biden’s inauguration, was removed from a Miami-Dade Country school because one parent complained, according to Sis2Sis.
According to Pen America, there have been over 1,300 book bans from July to December 2021, over 1,100 bans from January to June 2022 and over 1,400 from July to December 2022.
