America’s School districts have been under the national spotlight since the start of the pandemic. Plagued with controversy regarding mask mandates, school board meetings, and even the teaching of critical race theory, school districts have seemingly been unable to catch a break.
The latest controversy to cloak America's classrooms centers around their libraries and what books students have access to. In a move that some have called akin to book burning days, many school districts have targeted certain titles and pulled them from circulation.
Two Missouri students have put the spotlight on their district after filing a lawsuit against them following their school district's decision to ban several books from their libraries.
The two students are not named in the class-action lawsuit because they are minors. However, they contend that the school district is targeting books because they offer viewpoints of authors or main characters that are people of color or are minorities. Many of the books offer readers perspectives from those in the LGBTQ community.
The lawsuit comes after the Wentzville school district’s board members voted to remove at least eight books including The Bluest Eyes by author Toni Morrison from its school library. The school board came to the decision because of the book’s detailed and explicit descriptions of sex, rape, violence, and incest. Another book that has stirred up controversy, Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, was also listed in the lawsuit as being a “Banned Book.” Following their vote, the school district has said it would remove the books from circulation as they undergo a review process.
The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri on behalf of the children. The director of advocacy for ACLU Missouri, Tony Rothert shared, “This just isn’t any old book banning, as happens from time to time, where school districts disagree with the ideology of a book. Here Wentzville has targeted and removed books that are from the perspective and viewpoint of racial or sexual minorities.”
The class-action suit is reminiscent of a similar case in 2000 in which a federal judge struck down a law in Wichita Falls, Texas. In that case, the ACLU of Texas filed a lawsuit after the city's public library removed two books, Heather Has Two Mommies, and Daddy’s Roommate. Both books depicted the lives of couples who are gay and lesbian. The judge in that case ruled the law was unconstitutional. At the time, the city’s law allowed a book to be removed if petitioners found the book to be “objectionable.”
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs detail that, “The Banned Books engage their readers with a diversity of ideas and minority viewpoints, including with respect to race, gender, and sexual identity.” The complaint goes on, “The District banned the books from school libraries because of the ideological disagreement members of the District’s school board and certain vocal community members have with the ideas and viewpoints that the books express.”
As part of their suit, the plaintiffs are seeking to have all copies of each of the banned books that were “removed in violation of the First Amendment” returned, a permanent injunction that remedies the “specific violations,” plaintiff attorney fees and other “further relief.”
