Too late?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Absolutely!

[Frelga]

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Well, that book is not very popular among many Holocaust survivors, who find the animal metaphors doubly dehumanizing. I don't know the book, but based on what I have read, I find it very distasteful.

But I wouldn't ban it.

[Frelga]

Possibly you should read it before forming an opinion. It's a difficult book to read, but it is both a brutally factual record and a brilliant work of literature.

[Impenitent]

It's either an act of ignorance or an act of wilful suppression. Frightening either way.

[RoseMorninStar]

There have been several things I've read and thought about posting here lately. There have been far too many distressing events. Hate, which is becoming less 'disguised' (if it ever were), is so disturbing I find it difficult to articulate or deal with.

On the flip side, this decision will most likely ensure more students find a way of reading the book. I read a couple of banned books in Middle school, specifically because they were banned.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Possibly you should read it before forming an opinion. It's a difficult book to read, but it is both a brutally factual record and a brilliant work of literature.

Perhaps, but it is not likely to happen. It is not a type of literature that I am appreciative of (meaning comic books, not Holocaust literature, of which I have read quite a bit).

But it certainly should not be banned by a school. Do you know what the rationale was that was put out?

[Frelga]

Mouse nudity? Fascist sympathies? Take your pick.

Removing the book means that the entire module in Holocaust was removed from the curriculum, as Maus was the anchor text.

[RoseMorninStar]

Beau did a piece on this today. (YouTube video, Beau of the Fifth Column) : Maus.

Stephen King also put out a statement.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Here's the actual board meeting minutes.

https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/docu ... Ey925bNa88

The discussion suggests that the reason for removing the book is because it contains "bad words". Whether that is an excuse to avoid teaching about the Holocaust I will not comment on, but it is true that most likely it means that the entire module will be removed, as per the comment of one of the board members, Sharon Brown: "It would probably mean we would have to move on to another module, they would know better than I on that."

x-posted with Rose

[Inanna]

What does Stephen king mean by “I’m never much disturbed”.

[RoseMorninStar]

What does Stephen king mean by “I’m never much disturbed”.

I would not word it that way, but if it were my guess as to what he meant, it would be keeping with my earlier post where I said that one thing which will guarantee the book gets read is for a school to ban it, thereby drawing the attention/curiosity of 'forbidden fruit'. Students will/should seek it elsewhere.

[Frelga]

Yeah, not impressed with the take that individual acts will somehow make up for systemic abuses. Also, at that age, Maus is best approached in the classroom, with context, discussion, and commentary, which were meant to be provided by the entire module.

It's a difficult book. It's a story of intergenerational trauma and complicated relationships. It does not present a pure, innocent martyr like Anne Frank, or an uplifting triumph of the human spirit, or even survival through art. This is survival through sometimes selfish choices, often through tenacity, but mostly through random chance. It's a true story of a genocide that happened in living memory, and removing it from the school curriculum is a very specific choice.

Especially in the context of recent comments from the Right both-siding the Holocaust.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The most suspicious thing about the board meeting is the idea that it would somehow be difficult to find a replacement, if they genuinely objected to Maus but not to teaching about the Holocaust.

[RoseMorninStar]

The most suspicious thing about the board meeting is the idea that it would somehow be difficult to find a replacement, if they genuinely objected to Maus but not to teaching about the Holocaust.

Disingenuous I'd say.
Like the objections to teaching CRT (Critical Race Theory).

[Frelga]

Incidentally, today is the Holocaust Rememberance Day.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I was just coming here to ask if it was a coincidence that this was coming up on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

[RoseMorninStar]

[Frelga]

A great Twitter thread here, but the important part is this.

What makes the Maus ban so telling and terrifying isn't *just* the fact that it's a clear effort to mainstream Holocaust denial.

It's that this is a book ABOUT how to read the writing on the wall, and the consequences of ignoring it.

[RoseMorninStar]

Passing this along from Jewelsong's FB page.

"If anyone wants to write to the McMinn County School Board about their narrow-minded, short-sighted and ignorant decision to ban Art Spegelman’s “Maus” here is a contact form. "