Not content with bills to restrict public school teachers in addressing race and LGBTQ issues, Republican-controlled state legislatures are proposing laws to make it easier for parents to remove books from school libraries. The move is part of a broader movement to block the “rights revolution” of the last 60 years during which Congress and the Supreme Court strengthened civil rights and liberties. (CNN, April 5, 2022, by Ronald Brownstein)
An index of book bans from July 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 shows that there were 1,586 instances of book banning nationwide. Forty-one percent of the bans were as a result of directives from state officials or elected lawmakers. (PEN America, April 2022)