Banned Books In America: Westfield Public Schools Makes The List

WESTFIELD, NJ — Westfield Public Schools is one of three New Jersey schools that have officially banned certain books from their school libraries.

PEN America, a New York-based literary and free expression nonprofit advocacy group, released its 2022 report of banned books on Monday, Sept. 19. The organization highlights how challenges to books have become a political issue nationwide, and a majority of the targeted books focus on sexual identity, race and racism.

Patch asked a spokesperson from Westfield Public Schools for a comment on this issue but was referred to the Board meeting synopsis for information.

The book "Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race" by Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli was officially banned from Westfield's libraries after a formal complaint was made about the book in Sept. of 2021.

Developed by experts in the fields of early childhood and activism against injustice, this children's book is the first in a series that is meant to begin the conversation on race, with an approach that considers both the child and the adult, according to the summary on Amazon.

Sparta Township Public Schools also banned the book "Ghost Boys" from their classrooms, and Lower Township Elementary School District may ban the book "Black and White" pending an investigation.

Westfield's Decision

At a Board of Education meeting on Oct. 5, 2021 Superintendent Raymond González, said a review committee decided that the book be "kept as a resource material to be used within the context of an approved lesson and an objective."

González further states, "The committee found the resource to be developmentally age-appropriate and factually accurate, as defined by the National Museum of African American History and Culture of the Smithsonian Institute."

But because the subtitle of the book is "A First Conversation About Race" and the book summary refers to it as "read-aloud board book series," the committee justified the removal of the book from the district's libraries.

The committee concluded, "[The book] should not be placed in the general classroom library, rather this book is best used as an interactive read-aloud where educated professionals can skillfully present this information and help facilitate these important conversations."

An article in the New York Post claims the book "blames the idea of race on white people." The book was also distributed to several New York City schools, which has caused complaints from parents, according to the Post.

One line in the book states, "A long time ago, way before you were born, a group of white people made up an idea called race. They sorted people by skin color and said that white people were better, smarter, prettier, and that they deserve more than everybody else."

It goes on to say, "racism is also the things people do and the unfair rules they make about race so that white people get more power.”

You can view a read-aloud version of the book on YouTube below:

However, González reiterated at the Oct. 5, 2021 meeting that no challenged material can be removed solely because it presents an idea that may be "unpopular or offensive to some."

"If used, [the book] will be within the context of an approved lesson and objective related to the topic of race," González said.

Book Banning Across America

Jonathan Friedman, director of PEN America’s Free Expression and Education Programs and the lead author of the report, said in a news release that Students are losing access to literature “that equips them to meet the challenges and complexities of democratic citizenship."

That’s “especially harmful to students from historically marginalized backgrounds, who are forced to experience stories that validate their lives vanishing from classrooms and library shelves,” he said.

From July 2021 to June 2022, local officials banned 2,532 books by 1,261 authors, 290 illustrators and 18 translators, according to the PEN America report. The bans occurred in 138 school districts in 32 states. The districts represent 5,049 schools with a combined enrollment of nearly 4 million students.

Efforts to ban books have been circulating online with parents sometimes requesting a book be reconsidered or banned without having read it, but after seeing a post on social media, Friedman told CNN.

“From my place in the world, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, told The Washington Post. “A parent will stand up, do this impassioned speech about obscenity in school libraries in Virginia, and it goes viral on Facebook.”

An Expert's Opinion

Daniel Thomas Cook, PhD — a distinguished professor of childhood studies at Rutgers University-Camden — told Patch that Westfield's decision seems to be a "half-step" toward setting a "bad precedent" about access to certain books.

Cook said he thinks this decision "takes away a pathway" for children to come to terms with ideas, such as race, on their own.

"Putting the decision on the teacher about whether to use the book takes the responsibility off of the school district and places it squarely on the shoulders of teachers, who then can be identified and possibly called out by those who are against discussing race in the classroom in this way," Cook said.

He added that what often happens in these cases of school districts banning books is the concern of not wanting to "discomfort children."

"The question is whose discomfort is it, and is discomfort always bad?" Cook said. "The other side of discomfort is perhaps an acceptance of a particular reality."

You can watch the full Westfield School Board meeting where the board discusses the book here. A synopsis of the meeting can also be found here.

Patch reached out to the authors of the book, as well as the publishing company, but did not receive a response.