Summary

Florida schools have removed hundreds of books, including “The Bluest Eye,” “Slaughterhouse-Five,” and titles with LGBTQ+ themes and racial history, under new laws allowing parents to challenge library content.

The removals are driven by conservative advocates who object to LGBTQ+ content and discussions of gender and sexuality.

Critics, like PEN America, argue that these restrictions limit students’ freedom to read and access diverse perspectives.

Legal challenges are emerging, with recent settlements requiring some books to be returned to shelves, fueling debates over censorship and parental rights.

  • @LemmySoloHer
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    639 days ago

    They banned Slaughterhouse Five. Just a little information on Kurt Vonnegut’s experience in World War II that eventually inspired him to write the book:

    He was sent as a POW to Dresden. On February 13, 1945, British and American bombers destroyed the city by dropping high explosives followed by incendiary bombs. The resulting firestorm turned the non-militarized city into an inferno that killed up to 60,000 civilians. Vonnegut and his fellow POWs survived by accident only because they were housed some 60 feet underground in a former meat locker and slaughterhouse. Vonnegut’s job for weeks after the bombing was to gather up and burn the remains of the dead. His experience at Dresden marked him for life and eventually resulted in his literary masterpiece, Slaughterhouse-Five.

    The Florida Department of Education banning one of the most important American novels of all time, that was written by a WWII veteran, from American schools, is the kind of dark humor commentary that you’d find in a Vonnegut book.

      • FuglyDuck
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        39 days ago

        Wait… it’s not already?

        • Nougat
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          89 days ago

          So is a graphic novel adaptation of “1984,” George Orwell’s seminal work on censorship and surveillance.

  • @Bonesince1997
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    179 days ago

    I’m surprised there are any books left to remove.

    • Flying Squid
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      59 days ago

      The Art of the Deal is on prominent display for the Kindergarten kiddies.

      • @Bonesince1997
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        49 days ago

        w/ Mein Kampf being a prerequisite (I guess in pre-K)

  • @clockwork_octopus
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    9 days ago

    There’s a link in the article to the list of books each school has banned, and some of those titles are just maddening.

  • @[email protected]
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    18 days ago

    I’m surprised someone hasn’t made a list up of right-wing drivel to ‘ban’ and have it disappear