Texas Parent Asks That Michelle Obama Biography Be Banned
By: Katie Balevic (Insider)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A parent in Texas called for a children's biography about former first lady Michelle Obama to be pulled from school libraries because they viewed it as unfair to former President Donald Trump.
The Katy, Texas, parent took issue with a book titled "Michelle Obama: Political Icon" by Heather E. Schwartz, saying it "unfairly" depicted Trump "as a bully," according to NBC News, which on Wednesday published a list of 50 books that parents in Texas have asked schools to remove.
The request came as books depicting race, sexuality, and gender have faced heightened scrutiny from conservatives in the US, with many demanding certain titles be pulled from school libraries.
The parent in Katy, who was not named in NBC's report, said the book about Obama gave the impression that "if you sound like a white girl you should be ashamed of yourself," NBC News reported.
In a statement to Insider, Schwartz said she was "shocked" that someone wanted to ban her book because it "is a nonfiction book that doesn't strike me as at all controversial."
Maria Corrales DiPetta, a spokesperson for the Katy Independent School District, told Insider the district reviewed the book after the complaint and determined it would not be removed. Any book that is challenged is reviewed by the district, even if only one parent submits a complaint, she said.
"We could have gotten hundreds of requests, and it would have gone through the same process," she added.
In December, the district began pulling books from the shelves after parents complained about their vulgarity, the Houston Chronicle reported.
"The Board of Trustees and I stand by this policy and firmly believe that there is no place for books that contain pervasively vulgar content in Katy ISD libraries," Superintendent Ken Gregorski said at the time.
"It is our expectation that books within our collections are age-appropriate for the students and families we serve," Gregorski added.
Similar efforts have gained traction from state legislators and other community leaders in the US. Last year, a state legislator in Oklahoma proposed a bill that would've prohibited books in school libraries that depicted sexual activity or included discussions around sexuality and gender identity, The New York Times reported.
In October, a Wyoming prosecutor declined a request to prosecute library employees in one conservative town for stocking several books about sex education and others with LGBTQ+ themes, The Associated Press reported.
"As an author, a reader, and a parent, I'm against book banning on principle," Schwartz, the author of the Obama biography, said. "There couldn't be a safer way for kids to learn about difficult topics, gain new perspectives, and explore the world and their place in it than by reading words on a page."
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Prosecute library employees over books?
Off with their heads!
Hey now, I didn't see Alice In Wonderland the movie until I was a teenager...and stoned...
didn't some thumper organize a book burning recently?
I wouldn't be surprised.
Greg Locke did. Down with all that Harry Potter sorcery!!
prohibited books in school libraries that depicted sexual activity
So they are removing the Bible?
Death, destruction, incest...
Prostitutes - adultery - bigamy
sounds like a goober funeral in the deep south...
... and that sounds like the trump presidency.
Most prolific mass murder in supposed human history. God makes Satan look positively charming in this respect.
Crazy to worship that & let your children read that.
Heehee.
But in fact, based on many years of personal experience, school boards are mostly concerned with the loudest parent.
Then again, at every school board meeting I attended, either one or more of the Members were lawyers or the Board had their
attorney present to shoot down the crazier ideas right off the bat.
In many instances the school board act like children and try to see what they can get away with
because most people aren't going to pay for a lawsuit out of their own pocket.