Transcripts For CSPAN2 Banned Books Week Event With David Le

[inaudible conversations] can you hear me . I am the director here at the bookstore. Ctor here at the bookstore. How many have never been here before . That gives me this opportunity detoured tell you how we work. A Keeling Community living with and affected by hiv aids the relentless advocacy the provision of lifesaving services to sustain those efforts. As long as all of the Thrift Stores that means everything here is donated that way all money we raise goes directly to our fundraising efforts. Most people are booksellers over bartenders that helps us to make all proceeds go to health care and advocacy and other services living with hiv aids. It is also a key part of the fundraising for that mission. For those that help was attend events those that donate the books that they give us books for free as part of the fundraising so we encourage you to purchase as many books as you would like in the store. Also by donating were volunteervolunteer ing your time or renting out the space for a private function. You can also stay in touch with social media. And you can learn more about our programs in the rearing period you tear a comeback. Know i will introduce crests who will tell you about the panel tonight. Thank you. Is a little beard. What we are celebrating his first of all, libraries are find but booksellers are where it is that. [laughter] i of the director of the american booksellers with the fight against censorship and as a representative of all sponsors and there are many. As part of the american iron university press. National association of College Stores National Council of teachers of english. And known as the good guys. [laughter] the sponsors have been working hard with a coordinator in that want to tinker as well as the corporate contributors for burroughs since 1982 at least 300 books were challenged last year and most of the victims have been kids some have literally been taken out of their hands. This week we look at young adult books and the top 10 most frequently challenged. To your discuss the problem we have no fewer than four authors the first is our moderator. [applause] the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction in 1987. He also wrote the book though working poor and was challenged to be sexually explicit. [laughter] a former Foreign Correspondent for the new york times. Is an author and editor writing about strong gay male characters. Boy meets boy has been challenged many times. A curator for book has also been banned. [inaudible] with that level turn the program over to david. [applause] thanks for having this year. They are wonderful writers. So for five minutes we will let them set the stage then we will open it to q a. The superintendent of the Highland Park School District they suspended seven books from the english classs. And i school because of a complaint of one set of parents. Because i have reported womens stories but the complaint tip your hand of a political agenda when she suggested ben carson. But the School System was the instant laughingstock and some commentators like as superintendent question that during debate on the books week. There was the uproar and the Community Divided along clear lines very few parents objected to several of those books on the list of the wright to read in the teachers who made the choices. I will talk about the winds there educated but in this particular case all were back into the curriculum. But some damage was done because teachers were saddled with the requirements to justify why they were selecting the certain readings and some felt that entered the classroom propose some started to look for other jobs and at least two left and moved to other schools. There was a demoralization. Beginning is the exaggerated term. Students might consider their own class as being banned but of course, there are available elsewhere. For example, Gretchen Miller had to tell her students to stop reading the novel waterway and because she got the call as a result of the father of one of her students complained about a brief scene that of sexual exploration but again it is the superintendent withdrew the book from that course. So Gretchen Miller told her students they cannot read it any more but some of the students said it was boring but now it was intriguing and they were not retrieved into the book room and they had to order more copies half the town was reading in it. Many parents never paid attention now they were fascinated. And in the and the books were put back into the curriculum. However there was damage. One of the leaders of creating the curriculum told me there is so much stress he suffered from sleeplessness that he decided to know lloyd teach petraeus placement to english. Is a you can see in the the victory there is a defeat for rsi a spoke to parents is sought a few issues summer just trying desperately to protect their children so this is for the digital files. Some of them thought the school was providing the material. It is particularly volatile. Because socially conservative parents that gate characters are portrayed sympathetically. Are they thinking kids will be persuaded . Profanity, said as it is as they do talk or think. But with parents some are portrayed as clueless but they were kids smack and racial slurs are certainly an issue. Without recognizing there is in the antiresist story in that book was challenged when it was First Published in the Massachusetts Public Library and the cousin of the lowgrade morality and all through the pages there is a systematic use of that but it makes the storys real and compelling proposal wind the division between parents and communities put the book reading and those that oppose them more interesting. With the political divide of liberals and conservatives. There is the social conservative and also a difference if they are literal or not in the way that they read to they appreciate our lot the power of the metaphor for the allegory the utility of fiction beyond the immediate . Sometimes the patient care in nursing the aid behavior and attitudes. Once a recently that when this happened the adn a the character represents the opinion in the attitude of the offer is a Primary School understanding. The michigan teachers won the teachers in Highland Park one budget it inhibited from picking books for their students to read that generate controversy and sleepless nights. So those victories do not tell the whole story. Or by the authors to talk about their own experience. I have a story about a highschool is the story of a girl unraveling but also coming to terms with how that impacts people in their relationship with her mother and father sent to the a latina herself. So what has happened is Cumberland County virginia had invited lee to an assembly because theyre doing the entire bullying is simply. The library and effectively then i got a call from the library and then said you can come the please do not show a slide of the cover do not mention the title and do not see the word pass. I had to write a response lie that was not possible. Beside it is rude to and fight and offer but that was an ugly thing to do. If they find themselves in the cross hairs of a bully that there is something shameful about bad end of the school doesnt want to name that experience judy blue room who was involved with the National Coalition got wind of this. May be before this i was exactly nobody though everybody was talking about this and then the media appeared this superintendent cannot get out of her way. But it dealt with the bullying of the inner city issue. It is so unfortunate. I almost felt bad because it was painful to watch but now i live in virginia of lot of times but especially and picture books when is nowhere to be found. People know me as friendly and kind we really like you to talk about the girl. I have been in School Districts where the book is kept in the Principals Office if they apply to read it they he is the person who determines if they are mature enough to read the book. At and though that is the right term because i have not been banned. The for whatever reasons the well intentioned and adults are along the way. I dont know of my book has ever been censored but it has been challenged here and there may be at schools to cause an uproar. A. Gary indiana there was the big thing about it. It is also that it is just not ordered because of the language it is a community they used to say to have those ethnic students we dont have your book but now that the use the word ethnic were free and reduced lunch [laughter] so evidently my book only appeals to those with free end reduced much. Hungry. [laughter] i go to places where the book is sort of in the library bin not available for black History Month it just is not available in the justice and for our kids. And if you are familiar with the pop hiphop where rap is popular they would not understand your book. In the way kids all over the country there are the gatekeepers. For the intellectual community. With that implicit censorship the tests most of the tongue is the idea we dont have that many gay kids in our school. [laughter] we are not to urban. With the notion that they should be identical to the population. I grew up in the bronx. Midday but not understand. He did i get the free lunch. And from that year and ignorance they do feel they can keep on the outside and they cannot control the identities of the students. I have run the gamut from the actual physical protests and none of our dash. Made like to say most of the challenges. That is true . Period now the marines you boobies selling more books. Know. Because there is nothing scarier to know the peoples jobs are of the line. They are always with Collateral Damage that there will always be saddled with bad in for me personally it is personal to have that double bind going into a community that it isnt about just my book with who i was