In school districts nationwide, the power to decide what students learn is being turned over to individuals — and censorship is on these folks’ minds. The majority of Americans — 75% — oppose book bans, according to EveryLibrary Institute. But one person — a parent, guardian, politician, or educator — can challenge a book, and with a swiftness the literature is in danger of being pulled from shelves. 

That’s easy to do in Florida, land of Governor Ron DeSantis’ “Stop W.O.K.E.” legislation. Since its passage in 2022, the state has become a hotbed of efforts to restrict books written by or about Black people, as well as literature with LGBTQ+ themes and stories. During the 2022-2023 school year, about 300 books were successfully banned from schools. And in north central Florida’s Alachua County, 44-year-old University of Florida professor and UF Online Spanish program coordinator Crystal Marull has been on the frontlines of censorship efforts.

READ MORE: Why We Need Diverse Books in Schools

Since last September, Marull, a parent in the county’s school district, has filed multiple petitions for the removal of books. But on Tuesday, her latest efforts at book censorship were rejected by the Alachua County School Board. The board dismissed her challenge to a book about gender identity, “It Feels Good to be Yourself” by author Theresa Thorn. 
In late February, the Gainesville Sun reported that a total of 18 books had been challenged in Alachua County schools, and seven had been successfully yanked from shelves.

The Impact on Black Authors and Students  

Caroline Richmond, executive director of We Need Diverse Books, is part of the movement to push back against efforts like Marull’s and put books that include diverse characters and stories into the hands of all readers. 

“It’s really alarming for us at WNDB because we recognize the power of diverse books and how transformative they can be in the lives of readers and what a tool they can be used as to teach empathy, and build and we’re seeing these same books get challenged state after state,” Richmond tells Word In Black.  

RELATED: Another Downside of Book Bans? They Stunt Reading Ability

A March 4 letter to the Alachua County School Board penned by We Need Diverse Books and Florida Freedom to Read Project called into question the ability of one person to have so much influence over what children learn and the literature they have access to. 

“We’re deeply troubled that a single member of your community has been able to weaponize their prejudiced beliefs to influence public education in your County,” they wrote in the joint letter. “We recognize that these book challenges not only waste taxpayer money, they create an environment of fear that places strain on hard-working educators and actively harms LGBTQ+ students who are witnessing their stories and identities threatened.” 

More than 80 authors and publishers signed on to the letter, including Malcolm X’s third daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz. Her children’s book “Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X,” has been banned or challenged in various districts since its publication in 2014. Other targets of censorship, including award-winning Afro-Latina poet and writer Elizabeth Acevedo, and Justin A. Reynolds, a young adult author who has penned several “Miles Morales: Spider-Man” novels, also signed on.

RELATED: Most Black Teens Want Schools to Teach Slavery’s Legacy 

One of the challenged books,”Pet” — a book about a Black teen transgender girl by Akwaeke Emezi, hits close to home for the WNDB network. Emezi was selected for the organization’s Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature in 2021. 

“BIPOC and LGBTQ students already have some of the highest rates of suicide amongst their age groups in this country, and efforts like these are further erasure of their voices,” Richmond says. “We’re really concerned because what does it tell these students when their lives don’t matter? When they’re lives are being deemed inappropriate?

How You Can Stand Against Book Bans?

In the letter, the two organizations stated what they’d like to see from leaders following the challenges made by Marull — a list of demands that certainly seems like they could be copy and pasted by others if needed:

  • “Retain the affected books so that they remain accessible to students.
  • Allow school stakeholders impacted by the objection to submit statements ahead of the district level committee review to compensate for the loss of the school level review.
  • Prioritize issuing a proclamation that your students possess the right to read and should have ready access to books that reflect the diversity of our world.” 

The rejection of Marull’s latest challenge may be a sign that efforts to stop book banning are working in Alachua County. And as the We Need Diverse Books and Florida Freedom to Read letter states, efforts to stop censorship are worth it. After all, “Diverse books can build compassion, overcome prejudice, and enrich lives—but they must stay on your shelves to do so.”

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