A Texas lawmaker is targeting 850 books that he says could make students feel uneasy

[babylonsister]

Uneasy??? As an avid reader, this pisses me OFF! Cut out the censoring; if any book is too much for delicate sensibilities, don't freakin' read it!


A Texas lawmaker is targeting 850 books that he says could make students feel uneasy
October 28, 20211:00 PM ET
Bill Chappell


A Texas state lawmaker is asking schools statewide to tell him whether they currently hold any of around 850 books on a list he has compiled, explaining that he is targeting materials that "might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex."

The inquiry by state Rep. Matt Krause, a Republican, quickly set off alarm among the books' authors and the state teachers association. The unusual request, which was first reported by the Texas Tribune, also triggered confusion in school districts over how to comply with such a wide-ranging query.

Krause sent a letter on Monday to the Texas Education Agency and superintendents of school districts around the state, asking each official to confirm whether their schools possess any books on his list, along with a detailed accounting of where they are and how much money was spent on them.

snip//

The inquiry is a "disturbing and political overreach into the classroom" — and it might be illegal, said Ovidia Molina, the president of the Texas State Teachers Association.

"Nothing in state law ... gives a legislator the authority to conduct this type of witch hunt," Molina said in a statement. She added, "This is an obvious attack on diversity and an attempt to score political points at the expense of our children's education."

more...

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/28/1050013664/texas-lawmaker-matt-krause-launches-inquiry-into-850-books

[Initech]

1. 850? They're getting weirdly and oddly specific there!

[Shellback Squid]

2. does his list include the Bible?, slavery, sex, adultery, infanticide, homicide and the list goes on

[leftstreet]

3. This is Thin End of the Wedge stuff

These seemingly spontaneous and "concerned" legislative attempts are scary as shit and need to be shut down asap

[Thomas Hurt]

4. So? They don't have to read them you fn idiot.

[Thomas Hurt]

5. LOL, "might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or...

any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex."

This dick doesn't care about the kids...well, maybe the white boys.

[Lovie777]

9. Isn't that life? . . ..

Texas want children be statutes . . .

[Permanut]

6. If he got one copy of each..

and put them in a pile, and poured gasoline on them...

It would look just like Germany on May 10, 1933.

[Deuxcents]

7. Has he read all 850 books?

Sounds like a Texas Taliban in the making. If he has all the time to read each book, maybe he can give us book reports and point out his objections to each of them.

[niyad]

10. That was one of my questions as well.

[3catwoman3]

14. Has he read all 850?

Let’s hazard a guess - not a chance.

There are things that should make us uncomfortable. That’s part of how we grow and expand our horizons.

[Hekate]

8. Is Charlotte's Web on that list? It's downright Satanic, what with the talking bugs & pigs.

[sop]

11. They're coming perilously close to having book burnings in Texas.

And what with all the racism and misogyny going on there, they'll likely combine book burnings with cross burnings and burning witches. They could use their tiki torches to set off the blaze.

[Lithos]

12. The list is here

https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/94fee7ff93eff9609f141433e41f8ae1/krausebooklist.pdf

I am only aware of a small handful, but for someone to be critical of these books has a head-up their bum world view - namely what they can not see must not exist. Scary.

[Withywindle]

15. The subject matter is very telling

History, racial justice, sex ed for teens (including non-condemning helpful material about being LGBTQ), reproductive rights, YA novels that deal with these themes, the random old classic like Cider House Rules, biographies of famous artists and activists - and V for Vendetta which I always thought of as more of a Gen X story than what kids are reading nowadays but...yeah, it's about resistance to fascism. I can see why they aren't keen on that one.

[Kittycatkat]

13. Please make it stop...