Source: News & Observer
A Wake County school board recently voted 3-0 to allow a young adult novel to remain in Cary High’s library. The book challenge in question was towards “Out of Darkness” by Ashley Hope Perez; a 2015 historical young adult novel that captures a romance between a Mexican-American teenage girl and an African American teenage boy that transcended a racially divided Texas during the 1930s.
According to The News & Observer, it was the second time since March that the Wake County board has upheld a decision by Cary High to allow a challenged book to remain in its library.
The recent book challenge comes as Republicans across the nation amplify their efforts to ban books and lessons in local school districts and libraries surrounding history, race or LGBTQ+ experiences.
Contrary to the small, but loud movement backed by Republican leaders to censor classrooms, a majority of Americans reject the idea of banning books about history or race, according to a national poll.
The poll also found that a majority believe that teaching about the history of race in America makes students understand what others went through.
While extremist and small groups show up at local school board meetings touting Republican leaders’ divisive rhetoric, for most parents, the censorship of classrooms and books seem to be far from top of mind.
According to a NPR and Ipsos poll, a majority of parents, across political lines, approve of their children’s schools and support what is currently being taught.
The recent poll found that 76 percent of the parents surveyed said they were well-informed about what their children were being taught in classrooms, including subjects surrounding race, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
“It’s definitely an incredibly small minority that’s being amplified with this large, well-funded infrastructure to appear larger and to appear to have more well-founded concerns than they do,” stated Ralph Wilson, founder of the Corporate Genome Project in an interview with NPR.
