It’s a growing battlefield in America’s culture wars: education. A conservative-led movement is cracking down on what is taught in schools, and in a crucial election year, that has put books, schools, and libraries in the line of fire.
The country has witnessed a surge in challenges to books and teaching materials in schools and libraries across the US. According to PEN America (an organization campaigning for freedom of expression), there were 1586 book bans in schools over the past between July 1, 2021 and March 31 of this year. More than 40 percent of those books had main characters who are people of color, and more than 30 percent featured LGBTQ themes. Conservatives are decrying the teaching of what they deem divisive and age-inappropriate content like racism, gender, and LGBTQ themes in public education. Their opponents argue this movement to ban books is an attempt to
At its core, the movement to ban books is part of a larger ideological conflict, pitting conservatives against the left-wing in America, that came to the fore after the election of Donald Trump in 2016. The battle over education highlights how politicization and polarization have reached the very center of American society.
