DeSantis Book Ban

In light of the recent banning of books by Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature, Broward County DSA and Dream Defenders are cooperating to make it easier for teachers and students to read these banned books.

Broward County DSA believes decisions regarding academic content in classrooms should be left to educators and academics, not politicians.  Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature are afraid of the content of these books and want to make it as difficult as possible to read them. We embrace it, think it’s vital students and teachers have access to it, and are therefore doing what we can to make it easier to access them.

“I have 150 copies of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation in my house right now,” Cox told me, laughing, days out from the February 15th book distribution event cohosted by the group with the Broward County Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). The book, by academic Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, was recently left off the College Board reading list for the AP course. “And they’re sending more.” On the 15th, Dream Defenders and the DSA gave away the books donated by publishers for free. – Lexi McMenamin – Teen Vogue

More book giveaway events are currently being planned and will be announced soon. 

“Titles that have been caught up in these reviews include books on Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, “Queen of Salsa” Celia Cruz, and baseball legends Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente. (County officials have said the latter two are back on shelves.) When asked about the Clemente book, DeSantis said, “Roberto Clemente? I mean, seriously. That’s politics,” which is accurate in a way. These books require investigation because they supposedly run afoul of three fresh laws: The “Stop W.O.K.E.” Act, the Parental Rights in Education law, and House Bill 1467, which focuses on books alleged to contain “pornographic” or otherwise “inappropriate” content.” – Jack Holmes – Esquire

Ron DeSantis’ academic restrictions show he hopes to change history by censoring it…We cannot erase the past, or influence a young person’s gender and sexuality by removing a book from the library. Students are not political pawns or ideologues-in-training. – Francine Prose – The Guardian

Policies like this have a ripple effect, recasting reading not as a social good but a threat to be strictly regulated. – Amanda Marcotte – Salon