Dear Nixa SABR Students,
It has been brought to my attention that your group has commented on the recent appointment of Mary Hernandez de Carl to the Christian County Library Board of Trustees. See screenshots below:
While I understand you might be concerned about censorship and book banning, you can be assured that no books have been banned or censored. How can I be so sure of that? Well, let me link to a well-researched article written by Professor Rita Koganzon. Professor Koganzon earned a PhD in Government from Harvard and is currently an associate professor at the University of North Carolina.
In an interview with the Jack Miller Center, Koganzon gives a brief explanation of her article, "There Is No Such Thing as a Banned Book: Censorship, Authority, and the School Book Controversies of the 1970s."
Koganzon says:
"In
the article, I argue that the “right to read” (like most students’
rights, as it happens) is a mirage and a strategic invention by
educators who wanted to evade parental and community oversight for their
curricular choices – in this case, the books they selected for school
curricula and school libraries. Appeals to the “right to read” have made
our subsequent book removal and censorship debates impossible to
resolve because they allow one side – mostly the side that wants to
shelve controversial books that parents and boards disapprove of – to
hide behind “student rights” instead of making the positive case for
their selections and being accountable to the ordinary governance
structure of schools for them.
These ordinary forms of democratic school governance – oversight by
elected boards – have come to be maligned as censorship and “book
banning,” which only empowers unelected and unrepresentative educators
to govern local schools."
It should not be surprising to high school students such as yourselves, that you do not yet enjoy full rights of citizens who have attained majority age. For instance, you cannot drink alcohol in a restaurant, or buy cigarettes. You cannot legally access pornographic materials, and so on. These restrictions are reasonably imposed not only for your own good, but for the good of society.
The moral and emotional degradation of children is a scandal. Minor children are rightfully under the protection of their parents, and most parents abide by societal restrictions for them until such time as they are able to reasonably assume the rights of adulthood.
I recommend reading all of Professor Koganzon's article, which you can find HERE. Her article is 26 pages in length, but she makes a very persuasive argument against the political agenda of groups like the American Library Association, while properly defining "book banning" and "censorship."
The article is scholarly in nature and well-referenced, so I hope you will read it with open minds and hearts, seeking to understand.
Regarding the Nixa SABR comments about the appointment of Mary Hernandez de Carl, I believe you are mistaken in several points.
First, our county commission is composed of officials elected to represent the will of the voters. As our representatives, they are tasked with making sure our county library is governed in such a manner as carries out the will of the voters who elected them. Over the past two years, citizens have approached the commission with their concerns over the many age-inappropriate books in our county library system.
Presiding Commissioner Lynn Morris held several town hall meetings in which citizens overwhelmingly requested a change at the library. In accordance with the will of the citizens, the commissioners appointed individuals whose perspective was in concert with the majority of the voting public.
That Sheila Michaels was not elected as Western Commissioner (she was a recent candidate), or appointed as a library trustee has more to do with the will of citizens than with a curriculum vitae. Qualifications of educational experience are not the only qualifications that tax-paying citizens seek when choosing candidates.
Hernandez de Carl is also well educated and more than qualified to serve as a trustee for the library district. Governing a Library District includes much more than librarian skills. Business management, people management, facilities management, financial management are all aspects of a growing library system. Those who have been appointed in the last year, including Hernandez de Carl bring decades of business experience among other qualifications.
Additionally, Hernandez de Carl's dedication to the library and children has been amply proven over the last two years. That SABR would attack her with inflammatory words like "notoriously," and suggest she advocated widely for book removals or restrictions is a mischaracterization, and there are news articles that attest to dozens of parents fighting to properly curate books for the Nixa School Library. Hernandez de Carl spoke one time to the Nixa School Board.
Like most of the individuals fighting for parents' rights and the safety of children, Hernandez de Carl sought to compromise with the library staff and board. That the staff and former board refused to budge is the reason there is now a new board, but for one (Trustee Janis Hagen). It became clear there was a political agenda that took precedence over parents' rights and children's emotional and mental safety.
Perhaps you do not know yet, but kudos, awards, certificates, and publicity are often handed out as a way of legitimizing persons and ideas. While Michaels may have received several awards, these are meaningless to an electorate who is seeking to protect the rights of parents and the safety of children. Hernandez de Carl's advocacy of both made her a natural choice for a county commission that is responsive to the will of citizens.
Additionally, you may want to revisit taking a reporter's words as gospel, especially regarding Commissioner Morris' statement about flipping a coin. There is video HERE (the appointment part begins at the 1:00:00 mark) to which I hope you will give a listen. Morris was simply expressing that it was a difficult decision between his choice of Michaels and Hernandez de Carl. It was a bit of hyperbole, and most likely intended to acknowledge the competency of both candidates.
What should we notice here? Sheila Michaels did not receive one vote for the appointment. Commissioner Hosea Bilyeu's choice was candidate Ruth Maynard, not Michaels.
SABR is mistaken to make Hernandez de Carl's appointment an attack on Michaels, when it was Ruth Maynard who received one of three votes. Commissioner Morris addressed Michaels because she was present at the commission meeting when Hernandez de Carl was chosen by two of the three commissioners. He spoke well of her and indicated his decision was between her and Hernandez de Carl. Even if Morris had chosen Michaels, the vote would have had to be retaken as there would not have been a majority of any candidate.
Additionally, the reporter mischaracterized the words of Commissioner Morris, and you--the students of Nixa SABR--took as gospel her words without fact-checking. His kindness was used against him. Context matters. Perhaps this is the moment for SABR students to understand the nature of our media. Unfortunately, the press is mostly a propaganda endeavor, and often fails to represent a fair and balanced perspective.
In closing, I hope the students who comprise Nixa SABR will examine how and why they posted such sentiments on Facebook. If it came from emotion or from friendly relationships, it should be self-scrutinized for bias. You all are certainly entitled to publish your opinions--thank goodness for free speech--but informed opinions garner more respect.
Kind regards,
Gretchen Garrity
