"America’s one-sided school libraries are failing students," declared James Fishback in an article he authored in the Free Press.
Fishback highlighted in this report that the "narrative" spread by establishment media that claims that "book bans (ostensibly by the right)" in public school libraries are "eating away at democracy" is far from reality, and censorship has actually been imposed on books with "conservative" content:
The left claims that progressive books are being censored in public schools. But my research proves the opposite is true.
To construct the analysis, the author examined " the library catalogs of 35 of the largest public school districts in eight red states and six blue states, representing over 4,600 individual schools."
'Kids are often exposed to only one side of the story'
"It’s no secret that many school libraries have become reflections of politicized librarians," Fishback said. He continues that "kids are often exposed to only one side of the story," noting previous interviews in which he heard from some students who "complained that their school libraries had become one-sided, offering only books in line with progressive orthodoxy."
Fishback gives as an example a book titled "How to Be an Antiracist," by Ibram X. Kendi, which is available in 42% of the school districts examined. However, only one school district, in San Antonio, offers students "Woke Racism," by John McWhorter, "a book that challenges the borderline religious 'anti-racist' ideas advanced by Kendi."
The author states that none of the almost 5,000 schools offer books that question transgender theory. However, the book "Felix Ever After," by Kacen Callender, which claims that girls who hate "being forced into dresses and being given dolls" are trans, is available in 77% of school districts.
'Memoirs by nonprogressive leaders are also notably scarce'
"Memoirs by nonprogressive leaders are also notably scarce," the author noted. With numerous examples, he highlighted that in the 35 school districts, books by progressive thinkers are ubiquitous. However, books written by conservatives are extremely rare.
"Dreams from My Father," former President Barack Obama's memoir, is available in 75% of districts, and "Becoming," a book by his wife Michelle, is in 65%. However, memoirs by Republicans are not available in public libraries. Vivek Ramaswamy's "Victims Nation" is in zero schools, Mike Pompeo's "Never Give An Inch" as well. Tim Scott's "America, A Redemption Story" is also not found, nor is Ron DeSantis' "The Courage to Be Free."
Other examples of books written by progressives that are commin in public school libraries are:
- "The Communist Manifesto," Karl Marx (75%)
- "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent," Isabel Wilkerson (60%)
- "The 1619 Project," Nikole Hannah-Jones (54%)
- "Stamped," Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi (71%)
- "An African American and Latinx History of the U.S.," Paul Ortiz (40%)
- "The New Jim Crow," Michelle Alexander (60%)
- "Guide to Political Revolution," Bernie Sanders (40%)
- "White Fragility," Robin DiAngelo (54%)
- "So You Want to Talk About Race," Ijeoma Oluo (57%)
- "This Book is Anti-Racist," Tiffany Jewell (45%)
- "White Rage," Carol Anderson (17%)
However, in a much smaller proportion there are books written by conservatives:
- "Capitalism and Freedom," Milton Friedman (8%).
- "Woke Racism," John McWhorter (3%).
- "Created Equal," Dr. Ben Carson (5%)
- "Breaking History," Jared Kushner (2%).
- "Social Justice Fallacies," Thomas Sowell (0%).
- "The War on the West," Douglas Murray (0%).
- "The 1619 Project: A Critique," Phillip W. Magness (0%).
- "The Case Against Impeaching Trump," Alan Dershowitz (0%).
- "Decades of Decadence," Marco Rubio (0%).
- "The Diversity Delusion," Heather Mac Donald (0%).
- "The Case for Trump," Victor Davis Hanson (0%).
'Banned' books still available
The American Library Association has warned of "the continued increase in attempts to censor books and materials in public, school and academic libraries," saying that more than 2,500 books were removed in 32 states in the country in the 2021-2022 school year.
However, research by the Heritage Foundation revealed that 74% of these "books PEN America identified as banned from school libraries are actually listed as available." Fishback noted
My own research uncovered the same. In some cases, such as when Amanda Gorman’s 'The Hill We Climb' poetry book was supposedly “banned” by the Miami–Dade County school district, it was actually just moved from the elementary to the middle school section of the library. And 'Gender Queer,' a graphic memoir for teens about gender identity that The New York Times called “the most banned book in the country,” was available in about 25 percent of the school library districts I surveyed.
