Books On Race, Poor Before Lyons Township High Board

LA GRANGE, IL – The Lyons Township High School board is being asked to approve new books for next school year.

They include topics such as race and poverty.

The books about race may be problematic under the Trump administration. On Thursday, the Department of Education informed states that public schools that feature DEI may be at risk of losing their federal money.

It remains largely undefined what constitutes diversity, equity and inclusion in the administration's eyes.

Administrators are requesting the board consider the books for various courses at its meeting Monday. A decision is expected later this month.

Here are some of the books under consideration involving race, poverty and wealth inequality:

• "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates (2015) – The author writes it as a message to his teenage son about being African American in the United States. The book was banned for a time in a South Carolina school district.
• "Survival of the Richest" by Douglas Rushkoff (2022) – In Google Books, the novel is described as being about the tech elite, which have a plan to survive the apocalypse.
• "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander (2010) – The book is "a stunning account of the rebirth of a caste-like system in the United States, one that has resulted in millions of African Americans locked behind bars and then relegated to a permanent second-class status — denied the very rights supposedly won in the Civil Rights Movement," the author's website says.
• "Poverty, by America" by Matthew Desmond (2023) – "In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor," the publisher says.
• "The Message" by Ta-Nehisi Coates (2024) – The book is about Coates' first trip to Africa, his previous book's troubles in South Carolina and his travels in Palestine.
• "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent" by Isabel Wilkerson (2020) – It examines the "unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions," according to a book review.
• "Life and Death of the American Worker" by Alice Driver (2024) – The book is about immigrants taking on the largest meatpacking company in the United States.

The board meets at 6:30 p.m. Monday in Room 103-104 at the high school.