Mission CISD agreed to remove 676 books
Just five minutes after being told to permanently remove a list of 676 books from its schools’ libraries by a conservative activist group last month, Mission CISD agreed to remove any of those titles it finds in the district’s libraries and thanked the group for making the demand.
That list was sent to the district by representatives of Citizens Defending Freedom and the Remnant Alliance, associated conservative advocacy groups that have earned a reputation for getting books banned in other parts of the nation.
Locally, the groups began pressuring Rio Grande Valley school districts to ban books from their libraries last month.
The effort has found some success, securing in-person meetings with at least four area superintendents and establishing a dialogue with others, but progress toward actually getting commitments to remove books from shelves has been dubious at best.
Luis Cabrera, the Harlingen pastor who’s leading the push, claimed in a Facebook post that South Texas ISD’s Rising Scholars Academy agreed to remove more than 600 books, though a spokesperson for the district said that claim was false.
The group boasts about its meeting with Brownsville ISD, though those talks only resulted in the district agreeing to remove five books immediately.
The group secured a much stronger commitment in Mission.
Courtesy Image of Dr. Carol Perez
“Thank you for reaching out,” Superintendent Carol G. Perez replied to Remnant Alliance representative Martha Garza-Johnson via email on May 16. “We will certainly check to see if we have those books to remove them. Again, thank you!”
Garza-Johnson had sent Perez the group’s boilerplate introductory email, which threatens districts with a demonstration during public comment at a school board meeting and includes a list of books deemed “filthy and evil.”
The books on that list run the gamut from modern titles to classics of literature.
Most of the books seem to be on the list because they deal with sex or race. It’s less clear why some other titles are included.
Regardless, Perez decided all 676 should be removed and wasted no time in moving toward doing so.
The day after she got the email, a Saturday, Perez forwarded the list to Sharon Roberts, the district’s deputy superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
“Thank you so much for including me,” Roberts replied. “I will begin working with Library Services to track the books on the system and have them removed from the libraries.”
Seven days after Perez agreed to remove the books, a different representative from Citizens Defending Freedom reached out to the district asking for something else.
Jonathan K. Hullihan, Citizens Defending Freedom’s general counsel, emailed the Mission school board, urging trustees to pass a resolution.
Harlingen pastor Luis Cabrera addressing the Brownsville school board in May. Courtesy photo.
New guidelines from the United States Department of Education expands Title IX to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Hullihan wants the board to oppose the change to Title IX and support Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who also oppose the change.
“Without a doubt, your school district will be irreparably harmed by the enactment and enforcement of the unconstitutional Department rules,” Hullihan wrote. “Your district is poised to demonstrate the same courage as other school districts in Texas and around the nation. To do so, we strongly encourage the board to pass a resolution like the enclosed sample denouncing the usurpation of constitutional authority by the Department.”
It’s not clear whether the board responded.
Is nobody using their critical thinking skills? They’re just blindly following the pressure of religious zealots?
Correct. They are not using critical thinking skills and are happy to follow the orders of barely literate religious zealots.
the fault in our stars lol??? really
All this does is show the absolute ignorance and stupidity of the parents asking for this and solidifying Mission CISD’s department’s lack of being able to educate. Why in the world would anyone capitulate to zealots who FORGET WHAT HISTORY HAS TAUGHT US about banning books, and are determined to make sure their kids don’t understand the world or be able to empathize with anyone that is not like themselves? Disgusting.
Have any of you actually checked out the book list? You complain about book banning being unconstitutional, but there are plenty of books not allowed in schools.
Someone took the time to rate the appropriateness of book, just like someone took the time to rate the appropriateness of movies. For those of you complaining, have you actually read the list and do you agree or disagree with the ratings? Or is this just a “rabble rabble we hate Christians” mob of “superior intellect” that unironically fits the same characteristics as a mob of “religious zealots”?
I read the whole list; many of these are not legitimate challenges. Draw Me a Star? The picture book? Nate the Great? That should be available at any level. Most books are available for the target age group. If one of the teen or adult titles with mature content is available at an elementary school, sure, that sounds like an error. But many of these books merely contain gay characters or an account of racism or homophobia. Many of these I’ve read personally and, even aimed at middle readers or teen/adult have no objectionable content. The books with more mature content would only be available at the teen level, where students frequently read up to adult titles (and many of them become legal adults while still in school).
Pen America defines a book ban as “any action taken against a book based on its content…that leads to a previously accessible book being either completely removed from availability to students, or where access to a book is restricted or diminished.” It’s the job of teachers and librarians to select these titles. They go to school and learn how to select appropriate titles. If someone is requesting they be removed, there better be a good reason, backed up by child development research.