A Texas mom is asking for a children’s biography about former first lady Michelle Obama to be pulled from school libraries. The parent in Katy, Texas, claims the book is viewed as unfair to former President Donald Trump.
The Michelle Obama biography has become the latest target for conservatives.
The parent took an issue with the book ‘Michelle Obama: Political Icon’ by Heather E. Schwartz, saying the book “unfairly depicted Trump as a bully,” according to NBC News. RELATED: How Books Bans Are Threatening American Education But Helping Politicians On Wednesday, the news outlet published a list of over 50 books that parents in Texas have asked schools to remove, most of them including stories of people of color, and exploration of sexuality. The parent in Katy, whose name was not made public, said the book about Obama gave the impression that “if you sound like a white girl you should be ashamed of yourself.” The author of the book told Insider that she was “shocked” that someone wanted to ban her book, saying “[it] is a nonfiction book that doesn’t strike me as at all controversial.”
‘Michele Obama: Political Icon’ will remain in Katy, Texas schools.
A spokesperson for the Katy Independent School District, Maria Corrales DiPetta, said that the district reviewed the book after the complaint was made and determined they would not be removing it from school libraries. “Any book that is challenged is reviewed by the district, even if only one parent submits a complaint,” she told Insider. “We could have gotten hundreds of requests, and it would have gone through the same process,” she added. In December, the Texas district first started pulling books from shelves after parents began complaining of their vulgarity. The Katy School Board has already banned several books, with conservative parents finding issues against books that focus on LGBTQ+ and non-binary youth, as well as books about racism. The books that have already been banned include ‘Out of Darkness’ by Ashley Hope Perez, ‘Lawn Boy’ by Jonathan Evison, and ‘Losing the Girl Book 1’ by Mari Naomi. RELATED: Parents Want Graphic Book With Sexual Imagery Removed From School Libraries — But Doing So Could Fail Students All of those books were targeted because they include descriptions of sex and other mature content, while also depicting LGBTQ+ characters.
According to NBC News, one parent at the Eanes Independent School District in Austin wanted ‘How to be an Antiracist’ by Ibram X. Kendi to be replaced with ‘The Bible.’
“The Board of Trustees and I stand by this policy and firmly believe that there is no place for books that contain pervasively vulgar content in Katy ISD libraries,” Superintendent Ken Gregorski wrote in a statement. In the Mukilteo School District in Washington State, the school board voted to remove ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ arguing that the text marginalized characters of color, celebrated “white saviorhood” and used racial slurs dozens of times without addressing their derogatory nature. Across different states, parents are rallying around books that they feel hinders their children’s educations, and while many books continue to remain available for teachers to use in their curriculum, it’s the intent that raises issues. Pulling books off the shelves and prohbiting children from reading them limits access to learning about certain aspects of history, especially removing the possibility of engaging in conversations. RELATED: How Removing Critical Race Theory From Schools Is Dumbing Down America Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram.
