Cody High School is facing more book challenges. This one will take place on June 2 at 4:00 pm in the Board Room at Central Office. The Park County School District’s Educational Resource Complaint Committee (KEC) will be considering The Color Purple by Alice Walker* at 4:15 and How to be an AntiRacist by Ibram X. Kendi** at 5:15.
The complainant has announced this meeting and called for people to attend in support of her. So, those of us who oppose book bans must also attend to support the library and freedom of expression. The only people who can speak to the committee are the District Librarian and the complainant, but the library invites the public to attend. The KEC committee is composed of school teachers, administration and parents.
Also, this complainant has said they have a group reading to file complaints against 100 books in the CHS library. Literature about race, gender and sexuality has become a focal point of America’s culture wars.
National Coalition Against Censorship said in a December statement warning of the ongoing organized political attack on books. “Libraries offer students the opportunity to encounter books and other material that they might otherwise never see and the freedom to make their own choices about what to read. Denying young people this freedom to explore – often on the basis of a single controversial passage cited out of context – will limit not only what they can learn but who they can become. .”
The meeting starts at 4:00 on June 2 in the Board Room of the Cody Public Schools Central Offices (919 Cody Ave.) in Cody.
Thank you for your support!
FOOTNOTES:
* Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Alice Walker’s The Color Purple movingly depicts the growing up and self-realization of Celie, who overcomes oppression and abuse to find fulfillment and independence. The novel also addresses gender equality. The Color Purple broke the silence around domestic and sexual abuse, narrating the lives of women through their struggle, resilience, and bravery. “Deeply compassionate and beautifully imagined, Alice Walker’s epic carries readers on a spirit-affirming journey towards redemption and love.” The Color Purple has received widespread acclaim, though it was not without critics, many of whom objected to its explicit language and sexual content.
**How to Be an Antiracist is a 2019 nonfiction book by American author and historian Ibram X. Kendi, which combines social commentary and memoir. The book discusses concepts of racism and Kendi’s proposals for anti-racist individual actions and systemic changes. Critics say the author is asserting that one can only be either racist or antiracist; that there is no in-between. Kendi has also called Donald Trump a racist.