School districts across Florida have been scrambling to comply with the policies and laws mandated in the “anti-woke” faux crusade of Governor Ron DeSantis.
Through DeSantis’ ridiculous and calculated effort to purge everything diverse from the state, schools and libraries have rushed to remove anything that could run afoul of his policies, especially children’s books.
Pen America compiled a list of removed books in Duval County and some of the titles under review are shocking. They include books about African American heroes of the Old West, a barbershop, childhood staple The Berenstain Bears, Celia Cruz, Dim Sum, Pocahontas, immigrating to America and baseball. The latter includes books on Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, two of the greatest ever to play the game.
So why are stories about “America’s Favorite Pastime” on the list? Because they, like many of the titles on the list, include passages on racism in America.
These books all share a commonality in that they feature stories about the experiences of non-white characters. Some are fiction, some are nonfiction. But they all seek to educate and expand the thought process and values of young readers.
Instead, the works are victims of the governor’s fake crusade on CRT and “wokeness,” a word only he and Republicans like him love to keep alive and instill fear and anger through.
On Wednesday, after months of scared and confused teachers and librarians rushing to empty bookshelves, some good news surfaced from Duval County.
Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates by Jonah Winter and illustrated by Raúl Colón, one of the more than 1.5 million titles to be “covered or stored and paused for student use” per Chief Academic Officer Paula Renfro, was approved for student use.
“The book is now available to students,” said Sonya Duke-Bolden, a Duval County Public Schools District spokesperson, to NBC News about the Clemente book.
Ironically, DeSantis chimed in on the situation he created and put the blame on the district, calling the issue a “joke” and “outlandish.”
“They’re manufacturing that to try to create a narrative,” he said.
That’s hypocritical seeing that the governor started this persecutorial, racist and homophobic crusade to whitewash history and education with his own false narrative that CRT and gender affirmation were indoctrinating children.
Mind you, those subjects aren’t taught to children.
While the fight against DeSantis starts to gain steam, at least children can once again read about Clemente, an Afro Latino, 15x All-Star who amassed 3,000 hits, four NL batting titles, 12 Gold Gloves, 1 MVP award and two World Series titles in his Hall of Fame career.
We will keep you updated on the status of additional titles as more is learned.
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