The Redlands school board will vote Tuesday on whether to remove two books from school libraries. “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison and “Push” by Sapphire were challenged by a member of the public for containing “sexually explicit or obscene topics.” Both books depict sexual abuse and have been challenged by school boards across the country.
This is the first complaint made through a board policy passed in August that streamlines the process to challenge library materials.
The policy required the board to appoint a committee to develop a rubric and grade the books. The committee participants have not been made public, but the completed rubrics were published with Tuesday’s agenda. Three rubrics were filled out for each book and each found that the books were appropriate for high school students and should not be completely removed from school libraries.
Candy Olson, a Redlands school board member, ran on a platform of having books with sexually explicit material removed. She said books like “Push,” which tells the story of a pregnant teenage girl being abused by her parents, shouldn’t have to be explicit to make a point.
“Have a book that talks about the same situation without all of the details, and then have it where kids could read that, and then they could understand, hey, this isn't normal. I need to talk to a trusted adult,” Olson said.
Together for Redlands is a community group that opposes the book challenge policy and the removal of these books. Samantha Trad, an organizer with the group, said the uncomfortable subject matter is exactly why students should read those books.
“Children and teens actually experience what is in the book, what people are finding so offensive, because it is very horrible,” Trad said. “When they read books like this, it can really help people understand that, first of all, they're not alone, and second of all, that it's not their fault.”
She said it helps people who don’t have those experiences empathize with others.
Olson bristles at the argument that access to these books could help students who don’t know they’re being abused or help others empathize with people in more difficult situations.
“You can't tell me that you have to be sexually graphic in order to elicit compassion and empathy,” Olson said.
Olson also said she thinks the rubric used by the committee is too lenient. She hopes the board can enforce a stricter rubric for future book challenges.
The rubrics had five categories: presence of explicit sexual content, depictions of sexual violence, contextual purpose, age and developmental suitability, and potential negative impact on students. Each category was rated on a scale from zero to five, with zero indicating a book should not be removed and five indicating it should.
Olson said she’s going to vote to remove the books. If the board does vote to remove the books, they will be taken off school library shelves immediately.