The school board of Beaufort County, South Carolina, recently faced demands to have nearly 100 books banned by parents from the county, who complained about content regarding language, depictions of sexual assault, drug use, violence and sexual activity. The mass demand of literary censorship caught the county by surprise
High school librarian Karen Gareis said the school system already had a policy in place allowing parents to keep their children from reading certain books via an opt-out form.
“So, the procedure would be that it’s a conversation between myself and the parent,” Gareis told 60 Minutes. “And if they don’t like the book, they have every right to say that their child can’t check that book out.”
School board vice chair Dick Geier confirmed he had not expected to see such a request arise in a part of the state with such a rich literary history.
“Parents have the right to determine what their children are taught and what they’re allowed to read,” Geier explained to CBS. “But what we’re having a problem with is parents who want to determine what other parents’ rights are.”
According to Geier, the complaints regarding books in Beaufort schools started about a year or so ago. He said self-declared “activists” began threatening librarians and board members, calling them molesters, pedophiles and groomers.
“We’ve had a parent come in and tell a librarian that, ‘You are violating a state statute by providing pornography to a minor. I’m going to the sheriff. I’m going to have you arrested,’ and storm out. Now that’s not happened once, that’s happened multiple times at multiple schools,” Geier said. “I even got an email that said, ‘okay, the sheriff said no, the solicitor said no, I’m going to the FBI! And if the FBI doesn’t do it, I’m going to the federal district attorney!’ I said, ‘Go ahead. Have a good day.’ Talk’s cheap. I’m tired of the threats. Come and get me.”
Following the multiple threats, Beaufort County School Superintendent Frank Rodriguez – worried about the potential for violence – pulled the books from the shelves.
Most of the books targeted by parents were young adult novels with minority, gay, lesbian or transgender characters and were mostly in high schools. Four titles are a part of the school system’s curriculum, according to the school board.
“From someone outside looking in, it’s almost obvious that most of the books hadn’t been read prior to being challenged, that some other source was used to gather these things together,” Gareis said. “And the list is not unlike other lists that have been floating around other districts and been challenged, not in South Carolina but elsewhere as well. So when that happened … I knew we were in for a rough road.”
As it would turn out, the list of “books to ban” came from the website booklooks.org, a volunteer site with reviews cobbled together by amateur writers, many members of Moms For Liberty, an ultra-conservative political organization that advocates against the mention of LGBTQ rights, race and ethnicity, critical race theory and discrimination.
Rather than immediately succumb to radical threats, Beaufort County asked 146 of its residents to read and review all the books. The community members involved in the effort — which included teachers, librarians and educators — discussed, deliberated and voted on 97 books to determine which ones would stay on the shelves. The decision: five books were banned, and the rest were returned to the school libraries.
Ruth-Naomi James, a resident and combat veteran who works for the schools and has a 16-year-old in the system, was on the panels voting on the books. She said the process was “phenomenal,” and she voted to keep the books on the shelves.
“To take away the power that books give you to transform the world [we] live in is asinine. There’s no way I went to Iraq thinking that when I moved back home, I would have to do this to make sure that the freedom that we fight for in this country [isn’t] taken out of the hands of students and parents,” she said.
While 92 of the 97 books were returned to the county’s school library shelves, these five were removed:
“Beautiful”
Written by Amy Reed, the story focuses on a teenage girl who moves from small town America to the suburban sprawl of Seattle and is determined to leave her “good girl” image behind.
“Forever For a Year”
By B.T. Godfried, Barnes and Noble’s review section describes the story as an exploration of first love and everything that comes with that, including sexuality and the reality such bonds don’t always last forever.
“It Ends With Us”
Colleen Hoover’s novel tells the story of a young woman from a small town who moves to Boston and becomes romantically involved with an “arrogant neurosurgeon.” As she grows increasingly dissatisfied in the relationship, a former love enters the picture and complications arise.
“19 Minutes”
Author Jodi Picoult explores the psyche of a bullied and alienated teen who brings weapons to school one day and kills ten people. Through various looks back across his life, we see the turning points that pushes the young man towards a world of violent computer gaming and his assault on his schoolmates.
“The Haters”
Described by Google Reviews as young adult contemporary, Jesse Andrews’ novel follows the experiences of Wes, Corey and Ash, who decide to ditch a summer jazz music camp that doesn’t turn out to be what they expected. The three form their own band and take to the road for an unorthodox and unexpectedly challenging tour.
The five books that were not returned, according to the residents who reviewed them, were deemed as too violent or sexually graphic. While opinions on the books’ contents have varied, Geier sees the overall community effort as a success.
“Diversity brings tolerance,” he offered. “The more you understand what other people think and realize what they say is important and what their story and their background is, the more you know and the more you see the power of diversity. Be kind. Be understanding and don’t make judgments, because you haven’t lived their story, they have.”
