What do you think about the recent national discussion around a variety of inappropriate books in our children’s classrooms? At Tide Turners NC, we are strong advocates for freedom of speech, but just as strongly, we believe our children should be protected from books that are not age-appropriate, contain graphic sexual content, are politically propagandist, or educationally unsuitable.
Katie Gates is the mother of a student at Ashley High School in the New Hanover County School System. Her daughter’s AP language arts class was assigned the book Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X Kendi.
After learning about the assignment and reading the book herself, Mrs. Gates requested her daughter be exempt from the assignment due to it being educationally unsuitable.
Although her daughter did not have to partake in the assignment, the rest of the class spent a month reading, discussing and writing about the book. Mrs. Gates has continued her arduous journey in an effort to protect all students.
Did you know today, only 18% of young adults feel very proud to be an American, compared to 85% in 2013? What is the cause of this sharp decline?
We believe when teachers take it upon themselves to feed our children biased political propaganda like Stamped, it creates a distorted view of America.
Accurate sources should be used to teach students America’s complex history, highlighting both the dark parts and our incredible progress as a nation.
Although we disagree with the full content of Stamped we also appreciate where the authors shed light on overlooked aspects of history that are crucial to understanding and should be incorporated into the classroom. Yet because of the confusing mixture of truth, opinion and distortion of facts found in Stamped – it is not suitable as a teaching tool or as a required reading.
Where does it belong? In the library. There is a clear difference between requiring students to read a book and protecting First Amendment rights by making it accessible in the library for students to check out if they so desire.
We disagree with the book-banning rhetoric the left pushes on parents who are standing up to protect children. We hope Katie’s journey will inspire parents to stay engaged in their children’s education and speak up when necessary. Do not be bullied into silence.
Katie will write about her journey via the TTNC blog after her hearing with the NHCS Board of Education on Sept 1, 2023.
Highlights of Mrs. Gates’s argument that the book is not educationally suitable:
- AP classes are not exempt from the Quality Review Checklist (QRC) which asks:
- Is the content free of biases and stereotypes that could be offensive to a subgroup?
- Does it contain material considered to be inflammatory, controversial, demeaning or offensive to subgroups?
Mrs. Gates believes the answers to these questions should keep Stamped from approval.
- The College Board is required to approve AP course curriculum. However, the approved course syllabus was not the one actually used – it was missing Stamped on the listed reading.
- Stamped received a Lexile Score of 1000L, an age-appropriate book for 9 to 13-year-olds – 5th graders, yet this was taught in a college-level, AP course.
- The book does not prepare students for the AP Language and Composition exam… in 2023 “a mere 21% of New Hanover County students achieved a score of 4 or 5 on the AP Language and Composition exam, which is the national benchmark for awarding college credit.”
- Throughout Stamped, inaccuracies exist that contradict the authors’ own sources, for instance:
- In reference to President Lincoln and the days after the Emancipation Proclamation, Kendi and Reynolds write on page 105, “What (Lincoln) WAS comfortable with, however, was the way Black people praised him. They’d run up to him in the street, drop to their knees, and kiss his hands.”
The source he uses actually says, “At every step Lincoln was besieged by former slaves who hailed him as a “Messiah” and fell on their knees before the EMBARRASSED President, who asked them to remain standing.”
- In reference to President Lincoln and the days after the Emancipation Proclamation, Kendi and Reynolds write on page 105, “What (Lincoln) WAS comfortable with, however, was the way Black people praised him. They’d run up to him in the street, drop to their knees, and kiss his hands.”
See additional inaccuracies here.
