Story by Will Chappell, Contributing Writer
Almost a century after the Scopes Monkey Trial, Tennessee is vaulting itself back into national headlines with its aggressive drive to ban books in public schools.
In late January, the legislature passed a bill allowing parents to challenge the placement of books in public school libraries that they believe contain objectionable content. In the ensuing weeks, McMinn county has banned and pulled the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel, Maus, from shelves, Governor Lee has voiced support for the measure, and a Mount Juliet pastor hosted a book burning.
It is disgusting to see the contempt Republican legislators in this state hold for students in the public education system. The zealots at Moms for Liberty driving the interstate grassroots movement hold that the books they target contain offensive material. However, when inspecting the list of books that are most challenged across America, it becomes clear that the real controversial issues are LGBTQ+ and Black perspectives. The movement also comes hot on the heels of and supported by the same groups who have elevated the anti-Critical Race Theory debate to the national stage and passed a series of bills, including in Tennessee, banning its teaching.
Parents deserve input in their children’s education, but that does not mean they have absolute control. Children are not property of their parents, they are citizens. As such, the public has an interest in educating them to be contributing members of society. Following the logic of the book banning bill, a parent who had religious beliefs that viewed reading as immoral could deny their child be educated at all. But the courts have long held that a basic level of education is legally required for all children.
Beyond this basic civic function, the ability to think critically is of ever-increasing importance in our complex world. Everything from job prospects to protecting the security of financial and medical information and avoiding online scams relies on the ability to critically evaluate new situations. Exposure to differing viewpoints is critical to the process of developing that skill set. If a child is taught to uncritically accept the first information presented to them, it portends large problems dealing with the real world.
Further, this type of censorship seems to fly directly in the face of the First Amendment guarantee of free speech, which exists to promote and protect a lively political debate. For the past decade, conservative pundits have caterwauled about the liberalizing effect of university education on the nation’s youth, complaining of the liberal bubbles stifling conservative rejoinder. It is ironic that in response to this perceived censorship at one level of education, conservatives have in turn decided to embark on a campaign of literal censorship in return. Quite simply, if one’s convictions cannot stand up under mere exposure to a different set of viewpoints, it seems fair to ask how well-founded those convictions are, liberal or conservative.
This elevation of political and religious ideologies over the interests of school children is hardly new in Tennessee and one need not cast as far back as the Scopes Trial to find more of it. Less than a third of third-graders in the state can read at grade level.
Last year, a Pro Publica and NPR report revealed shocking abuses of power by a Rutherford County judge, including throwing children as young as eight years old in jail for crimes that didn’t exist. The welfare and education of the children of this state is hardly a priority for the legislature, making this bid to further restrict schools all the more galling.
This is yet another front in the ever-expanding culture war and the right’s crusade against “wokeness.” Just like every battle in that war, there will be casualties here. Teachers and librarians will be forced to censor themselves; students will be exposed to fewer ideas in an academic setting. And Tennessee will continue to be known as a state that doesn’t value the free expression of ideas or the education of its youth.
