When the Bad Guys Win: No More Ethnic Studies in AZ

Monday, January 16th, 2012

A recent

When Grassroots Go Wrong: Parents Censoring Books in Richland, Washington

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

Grassroots organizations have gained a lot of attention lately, thanks in large part to the Tea Party, though its supposed mom and pop members are often funded by corporate sponsors. I like the designation astroturf to describe this kind of faux-populism. The following case, however, might be described as a genuinely grassroots movement, since it [...]

Toni Morrison Challenged in Shelby

Sunday, May 17th, 2009

Just when you think it can’t happen here: a text is being challenged by a group of conservative parents in Shelby, Michigan. The text in question is Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon , and the teacher is a recent GVSU graduate, Jane Glerum. The name sounded familiar to me, and I remember now that Jane [...]

Palin’s Censorship: Follow Up

Friday, September 12th, 2008

I’m at home today, feeling a little grumpy after missing work yesterday with strep throat. My sore throat continues today, and maybe that’s why I’m on the war path about this Palin censorship issue. Here’s a new report from ABC: For the sake of fairness, I should mention that Factcheck is reporting that ABC overstates [...]

Governor Palin Pushed to Ban Books

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

The young adult author John Green (Looking for Alaska; An Abundance of Katherines) noted on his blog today that Time is reporting that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin pushed to ban books from the Wasilla Library. Here’s the telling quote from the Time piece: Mayor Palin: A Rough Record Tuesday, Sep. 02, 2008 By NATHAN THORNBURGH [...]