The Valley: No Appetite To Fight Book-Banning...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | The book-banning issue playing across Texas has not quite burned a hole in the carpeted floors of area school libraries, perhaps because of the Rio Grande Valley's historical desire to not mess with state politics so readily.

If it has affected - or bothered - any of the ISDs around here, well, it's been low-key - like off the news pages and not lately on the evening news.

Upstate, it's annoying communities like crazy. And here recently, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB900, a state law forcing book vendors to identify sexual content in any book sold to any Texas public school library. That, critics, say, will lead to book vendors bailing on Texas.

This from a report published by The Austin Chronicle a few days ago: [ The book bans are a relatively recent obsession of the far right and have followed their previous crusades against mask mandates and the accurate teaching of race. They are characterized by loud, lurid, and comically exaggerated allegations. Parents complain, most often, of "pornography" in school libraries. They accuse teachers of "grooming" children for sex. They have, at times, subjected librarians and school board trustees to threats, including death threats.

In response, schools have taken books off the shelves. Two years ago, a Leander parent waved a pink dildo to vigorously protest Carmen Maria Machado's In the Dream House, a memoir about queer domestic violence.

Leander ISD, just north of Austin, went on to remove 15 books from the school library. In November 2022, Keller ISD, outside Dallas, banned all books mentioning gender fluidity, after having banned dozens of other books months earlier. Frisco ISD, north of Plano, began a review last August of an estimated 1 million titles, reportedly allocating $387,000 to begin the process.

According to PEN America, there were 438 new book bans undertaken in Texas in the fall of 2022 - the most in the nation. The books removed have included Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl, Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, and the Bible. ]

Yep, the Bible.

Republicans behind all of this. Go figure.

But it's part of a plan to further politicize public education - a mission for Gov. Abbott.

None of this, as far as we know, has manifested itself in any Valley city or town. Still, Texas law applies down here so, school districts must toe the line or see funding amended (cut). Brownsville at the bottom, so-called Tip-of-Texas on the map has the most public schools - 66 campuses, 7 high schools. McAllen has 36 campuses and 3 high schools. Harlingen, in the mid-Valley, has 31 campuses, 5 high schools.

Would book-banning ever roust local school officials?

We say, "No".

The Rio Grande Valley remains a "go along to get along" political entity as a whole. It has too much at stake, as public schools in most of its cities and towns are usually the community's major employer.

Taking on Republicans, the Republican governor or the Republican Legislature is something they obviously do not wish to do. They should, but they won't.

Pity...

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