I lack the will to research if this quote is actually from King, but I like it even if it isn’t.

Anonymous wrote:I read "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" in fifth grade in an all white school on LI in 1970. I loved that book and it made me realize how lucky I was. I am an atheist but see the wisdom in "there but for the grace of god go I". How are kids going to see outside their own little bubble if they don't read about different life experiences?

That’s the entire point. They don’t want them to.

The Kite Runner, ladies and gentlemen.

I read "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" in fifth grade in an all white school on LI in 1970. I loved that book and it made me realize how lucky I was. I am an atheist but see the wisdom in "there but for the grace of god go I". How are kids going to see outside their own little bubble if they don't read about different life experiences?

Somewhere out in Twitter world, someone put it best-- these kids are considered old enough to carry/raise a child, to use a gun, but not old enough to pick which books they will read.

Anonymous wrote:Who told these people that they have to like and agree with everything in every book and everything that teachers say? I had 18 years of school from k through grad school and I never had a teacher or professor that I agreed with 100% and I certainly did not agree with my parents 100% or let them or anyone else decide what I could read or discuss. The most educational part of being a teenager is learning to question the beliefs and assumptions and dogmas of the world around you. I went to school through the Civil Rights era, Vietnam, Watergate, womens rights, gay rights, Iran hostages, etc. We read what we wanted to read and talked about the shit that was going on and how it all got so f’ed up. We despised all the bigots telling us to shut up and love it or leave it. Scapegoating teachers won’t stop kids from learning the truth. They are learning about you right now. You are on the losing side trying to cling to fairy tales about the past and lying about your intentions and your agenda.

Amen, PP. I am in the same age range and experienced all these different events/movements as well. You said it much better than I could. Back off parents--your kids are going to develop their own ideas and--newsflash--some will diverge from your own.

Anonymous wrote:The nudity in Maus are NAKED MICE lined up in a Nazi death camp, as they are being selected to live or die.

Can someone make these fools watch "Schindler's List" so they know what the heck is going on?

It wasn't even "shit" that was the offending phrase. It was "god damn". In a book in which 6,000,000 people are murdered. JFC

The nudity in Maus are NAKED MICE lined up in a Nazi death camp, as they are being selected to live or die.

Can someone make these fools watch "Schindler's List" so they know what the heck is going on?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can you tell they're Nazis? WHEN THEY BAN BOOKS ABOUT NAZIS!

Some school board in Tennessee - McMinn County (home of Athens TN, which one of my white ancestors founded 200 years ago, before he got the hell out) has banned one of the greatest graphic novels and best books about the Holocaust - Maus. The vote was 10-0. Not one of those f'in hillbillies got it.

They banned Maus! I can't believe it.

The ending of Maus is about the author’s Holocaust survivor mother committing suicide.

The reasons stated for banning Maus were swear words and nudity. In a book about genocide, by a New Yorker cartoonist, the word shit is too much for the sensitive eyes of TN.

Neither here nor there but TN honors and has a state holiday for the founder of the KKK. That's ok but the word "shit" is inappropriate when talking about the impact of the freaking Holocaust.

Who told these people that they have to like and agree with everything in every book and everything that teachers say? I had 18 years of school from k through grad school and I never had a teacher or professor that I agreed with 100% and I certainly did not agree with my parents 100% or let them or anyone else decide what I could read or discuss. The most educational part of being a teenager is learning to question the beliefs and assumptions and dogmas of the world around you. I went to school through the Civil Rights era, Vietnam, Watergate, womens rights, gay rights, Iran hostages, etc. We read what we wanted to read and talked about the shit that was going on and how it all got so f’ed up. We despised all the bigots telling us to shut up and love it or leave it. Scapegoating teachers won’t stop kids from learning the truth. They are learning about you right now. You are on the losing side trying to cling to fairy tales about the past and lying about your intentions and your agenda.

Anonymous wrote:How can you tell they're Nazis? WHEN THEY BAN BOOKS ABOUT NAZIS!

Some school board in Tennessee - McMinn County (home of Athens TN, which one of my white ancestors founded 200 years ago, before he got the hell out) has banned one of the greatest graphic novels and best books about the Holocaust - Maus. The vote was 10-0. Not one of those f'in hillbillies got it.

They banned Maus! I can't believe it.

The ending of Maus is about the author’s Holocaust survivor mother committing suicide.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a difference between school libraries and publlc libraries or bookstores. Some materials don't belong in school libraries.

So you are a book banner.

NP. I am when it comes to child porn. That belongs in a NAMBLA library

...and that is basically this whole multi-page debate condensed to a few pages.

There are some people who believe some book are too obscene for a school library. Others here disagree, either that anything is too obscene, or that these specific books are too obscene.

What I find puzzling is that so many here seem to think the community shouldn't determine what is too obscene. If not the local community, who determines what goes in a school library?

Are you assuming that the people seeking to ban books actually represent the community? Instead of banning books, why not take steps to monitor what their own children are reading?

Anonymous wrote:How can you tell they're Nazis? WHEN THEY BAN BOOKS ABOUT NAZIS!

Some school board in Tennessee - McMinn County (home of Athens TN, which one of my white ancestors founded 200 years ago, before he got the hell out) has banned one of the greatest graphic novels and best books about the Holocaust - Maus. The vote was 10-0. Not one of those f'in hillbillies got it.

They banned Maus! I can't believe it.

First they came for the Blacks, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Black. Then they came for the gays, and I did not speak out— because I was not gay. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

How can you tell they're Nazis? WHEN THEY BAN BOOKS ABOUT NAZIS!

Some school board in Tennessee - McMinn County (home of Athens TN, which one of my white ancestors founded 200 years ago, before he got the hell out) has banned one of the greatest graphic novels and best books about the Holocaust - Maus. The vote was 10-0. Not one of those f'in hillbillies got it.

They banned Maus! I can't believe it.