Team Project 2025, the Trumpsters, and Christian nationalists aren't big on kids getting educated and learning about people who are different than they are. So threatening! That's probably why more than 10,000 books have been taken off the shelves in public schools in the last year, with right-wing rubes in Iowa and Florida leading the way.
Offending texts are by the usual suspects — Harper Lee, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Mark Twain — but sometimes they include surprises, like Agatha Christie. (Whut? Too violent? Who knows?) The book-banners feel they must protect their children from knowledge and ideas. It's a reminder that, alas, the play Inherit the Wind never gets old.
So here's a thought for the upcoming holiday season: Get everyone on your Christmas/Hanukkah list a book. Maybe several books. Maybe banned books. And don't get them from Amazon. Visit your local booksellers and give them a little love. We have a fine one in our neck of the woods, and will also shop for cards and festive gewgaws while we're there. It's a small but pay-it-forward gesture. We cats PURR.
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