DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — Dearborn is just one of the many communities throughout the state and country who are having disputes over what books should be allowed in public schools.
Experts say they haven’t seen this level of opposition since the 1980s.
According to the American Library Association’s preliminary America’s Libraries report, more than 330 unique book challenges nationwide were reported in the three-month period between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30, 2021. It’s more than double the number of reports from 2020 (156 challenges) and it will likely outpace 2019 (377 challenges).
These are the six books removed from Dearborn Public Schools this fall.
- "Push" by Sapphire - includes incestuous rape, drug abuse
- "All Boys Aren't Blue" by George M. Johnson - includes LGBTQ+ themes, sexual abuse, and sexual encounters
- "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold - includes LGBTQ+ character, rape and murder
- "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell - includes "problematic depiction of race" and sexual abuse
- "Red, White and Royal Blue" by Casey McQuiston - includes LGBTQ+ themes
- "This Book is Gay" by Juno Dawson - includes LGBTQ+ themes, sexual depictions, sexual advice
Reading through of them, there are chapters that include graphic sexual detail.
7 Action News spoke to some people who say talking about this material in school is inappropriate, and some who say it’s necessary.
"This isn’t book banning, this is pornography," said Hassan Chami, a Dearborn parent in a podcast.
Chami has become instrumental in the movement to remove 6 sexually explicit books - 4 of which do contain lgbtq+ themes - from public schools.
"The media and the people who are opposing our stance keep saying a book banning these are fear mongering rhetoric," he said.
In an interview with 7 Action News, Chami expressed that he’s frustrated people keep saying this is about the LGBTQ+ themes, he says it’s not, but it’s about the sexually explicit material — which after purchasing and reading through some of the books ourselves, we can confirm is in them including graphic depictions of rape, and instructions for finding online and performing different styles of intercourse.
"There’s limits for a reason but all of a sudden now we want to have these children be exposed to explicit material at such a young age," he said.
A report by Pen America found that 41% of the books being banned across the country contain LGBTQ+ themes.
Kathleen Battles is a queer scholar at Oakland University who said she insists that this is what the fight is about; she believes these books are imperative for queer students growing up in heterosexual homes.
"They might not be able to learn about those things with their families, but in a different kind of environment with educators and peers they can learn about those things," said Battles.
When asked if she thinks the sexually explicit material is necessary, she said "I think in the long run representation is more important than sexually explicit material, but the fact is if you look at our broader culture it is full of sexually explicit material."
Michigan law states “media materials containing graphic and/or gratuitous violence, sexual content, expletives, or hate speech, and without literary or educational merit, should not be included in our school media centers.”
The Dean of University Libraries at Oakland University says school librarians know this and follow a detailed process when picking out books.
"I trust that expertise because it’s not a willy nilly ‘oh this looks good, I think I’ll put it in the collection,’ no. There are standards and policies that guide what we select with our collections," said Polly Boruff-Jones, Dean of University Libraries at Oakland University.
Across Michigan, the fight continues.
In the last year, books like "Fun Home" and "Lawn Boy" have been removed from Troy, Rochester, and Novi public school libraries.
In Ottawa County, residents defunded their only library because of its LGBTQ+ collection, in Hillsdale residents tried to ban books containing transgender themes.
Experts say they haven’t seen this level of opposition in schools since the 1980s.
"I think that for certain groups of people it pushes against their own beliefs ... but at the end of the day, LGBTQIA kids exist and they’re going to exist whether you ban books," said Battles.
Chami said "it’s supposed to be a safe place, it’s supposed to be an environment away from politics, away from progressive ideology."
