Political Theater & Real Life Horror
Book Bans as Republican Strategy du jour.
“The unprecedented number of challenges we’re seeing already this year reflects coordinated national efforts to silence marginalized or historically underrepresented voices and deprive all of us-- young people, in particular-- of the chance to explore a world beyond the confines of personal experience.”
- Lessa Kanani’Opua Pelayo-Lozada, President of the American Library Association.
Oh hey folks,
Now that enough time has passed from Hurricane Ian body-slamming hard into Florida, it’s finally time to make fun of their atrocious book banning activities that’s going on in the state under its ‘fearless’ governor, Ron DeSantis. Why? Because it’s all political theater. But that’s not a reason to dismiss these moves-- on the contrary, that’s the exact reason to watch on high alert.
Florida has the 2nd highest number of school-related book bans in America second only to Texas (according to this PEN America report). Of the books banned, 41% had LGBTQ themes, protagonists or prominent secondary characters. Forty percent had characters of color as primary or prominent secondary characters, with 21% of the titles dealing with issues of race and racism (source).
Book bans have an exciting air to them, but that excitement is hollow because the truth is, most schools stick to teaching the books that will be on standardized tests, and those are based on something called “common core curriculum” and it’s decidedly stuck in the past of mostly dead white men. And that’s assuming these teachers and their pre-written lesson plans are actually effective (Florida’s standardized test scores sit at sea level, like much of the state’s geography).
The spectacle of book banning ignites both sides, and gives the illusion that public education is functional. It is political theater, and it's a performance that terrifies me. A few months ago, when NSFS was blessed with an intern, Abs Wilson, we released a joint statement titled “Don’t Say Straight” about the Don’t Say Gay bill passed in Florida.
Of course, Abs and I were not the only queers calling this move what it really was. For some context, here’s an article from Them Magazine (a mainstay for my fellow queer writers): “Don’t Say Gay” Was Just the Beginning: Here are 3 more bills targeting LGBTQ+ education to watch. April 15, 2022 by James Factora.
Political Theater & Real Life Horror:
As I mentioned a few weeks ago when I was trolling the troll that is Georgia state representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, that nothing these politicians say makes any sense. It’s lunacy. But it’s lunacy that their base wants to hear. Remember: they are not evil, they’re just generic white people doing what they’ve been told to get elected.
They’re saying (and doing) what “the people” want to hear.
This WaPo article quotes Shiree Verdone, a former finance co-chair for Trump’s campaigns in Arizona, said she talks to people “every day that say, ‘Wow I really like Ron DeSantis, I think he would be an excellent president, but you know, if Trump runs and we get the nomination, we’re all in for him.'”
In fact, DeSantis has already surpassed Trump in fundraising, and as of early September 2022 his coffers have more than $177 million, which is a record-breaking high for a gubernatorial race. Just as I fear Marjorie Taylore Greene is already too monstrous to defeat, it’s clear that DeSantis’ team is taking a note from the same NYC consulting firm that helped Greene’s election: inflame the base. Blame the democrats. Don’t make it make sense, make it make it make vague, angry, feelings.
Gossip update that’s relevant to LGBTQ+ rights: Of course, Marjorie Taylor Greene is coming for the LGBTQ+ community on the same week she got caught having not just 1, but (at least) 2 extramarital affairs. Earlier this year, she introduced a bill that criminalizes performing transgender medical care. But damn, that hypocrisy smells nasty. See: Marjorie Taylor Greene Brags Supreme Court Could Overturn Gay Marriage from October 13, 2022.
As my own dad reminded me, Greene hired a fancy consulting firm and after they did a thorough analysis of the demographics of my home-town Floyd County, told her to run on her platform of misplaced anger, hatred, bigotry and racism. And it worked. We can hate these politicians all we want, but they’re gross simplifications of who we are as a people. They are us.
Enough ranting, Allison: What About Solutions?
One thing we can all do is stop the denial. They’ve come for women (and will continue to do so), they’ve come for the gays, and they’ve always had it out for racial minorities. If only we could, oh, form a coalition of overlapping causes and concerns.
If you’re in the U.S., you had best be registered to vote. Alls I’m saying.
What I’m (re)reading:
Emma Dabiri’s What White People Can Do Next: From Allyship to Coalition
“Although we have the freedom to create alternatives, as it stands right here and now, we understand ourselves and others through the prism of race. We’ve been conditioned to see the world through that lens for centuries. Part of that worldview is internalization of negative and reductive assumptions associated with blackness and general positive ones associated with whiteness. So, stop the denial! What would make you immune to centuries of socialization? It’s a system we’ve been born into-- over that you have no control. What you do have control over is what you do next.”
“Advocacy Groups Are Helping Drive a Rise in Book Bans:” A report from the free speech organization PEN America looked at the role of politics and advocacy groups in the growing number of book bans in schools across the country. New York Times: September 19, 2022 by Elizabeth Harris.