Georgia school’s book bans may break civil rights law, federal officials warn

May 22, 2023, 1:52 PM | Updated: 4:18 pm

ATLANTA (AP) — The U.S. Department of Education has found that a suburban Atlanta school district’s decision to remove some books from its libraries may have created a hostile environment that violated federal laws against race and sex discrimination.

The legal intervention by the department’s Office of Civil Rights could curb efforts to ban books in other public school districts nationwide, especially when bans are focused on books that include content about LGBTQ and nonwhite people.

The Forsyth County school district settled the complaint, agreeing to explain the book removal process to students and offer “supportive measures” to students who may have been harmed. Forsyth County will also include questions about the issue in its yearly school climate survey of middle and high school students next year.

The federal intervention came after months of contention over books in the 54,000-student district. Forsyth is Georgia’s most affluent county, a rapidly growing suburb about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of downtown Atlanta.

Forsyth County in January 2022 removed eight books, including Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” but allowed seven to return after further consideration. It excluded only “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” a memoir about growing up as gay Black man by George M. Johnson.

Federal officials wrote in a letter Friday that Forsyth County erred not so much in the removals, saying “the district limited its book screening process to sexually explicit material.” Instead, officials found that the problem was how district officials talked about removals at school board meetings.

“Communications at board meetings conveyed the impression that books were being screened to exclude diverse authors and characters, including people who are LGBTQI+ and authors who are not white, leading to increased fears and possibly harassment,” the department wrote.

One student came to a board meeting to warn “about the school environment becoming more harsh in the aftermath of the book removals and his fear about going to school,” the letter says.

Becky Woomer of the Forsyth Coalition for Education, which has opposed book removals, said the findings back up fears that the school district was endorsing anti-gay views.

“Having those views validated, yeah, I think it harms students,” Woomer said. “And when the books were put back on the shelves, it was done silently. So there was never this sense as a school community ‘OK, we messed up, we’re sorry.’”

Jennifer Caracciolo, a spokesperson for Forsyth County schools, said a statement to students will help dispel those impressions.

“It’s more about making sure we communicate with the students,” she said.

Protests over books viewed as inappropriate had been led by a conservative group, Mama Bears of Forsyth County. Members read sexually explicit passages from school books until the school board chairman ordered them to stop in March 2022, noting board policy prohibits profane remarks. Members of the group argued that if the books were inappropriate to be read at a board meeting, they were inappropriate for children.

The board then banned one member, Alison Hair, from attending board meetings. Hair and Mama Bears Chairwoman Cindy Martin sued in federal court, winning a ruling in February that the ban violated their First Amendment rights. The group then resumed reading books at meetings.

Martin on Monday said the settlement would let the federal government “continue to find ways to infiltrate the public school system with their radical agendas,” saying federal officials had found no legal violations.

“This is not about books,” Martin wrote in an email. “This is about the federal government using bully tactics against our school system to indoctrinate our children into the LGBTQ ideology.”

Book challenges have continued in Forsyth County under a 2022 Georgia law that allows parents to challenge material they consider obscene. The district last month agreed to not let any students check out one book, “The Handsome Girl and Her Beautiful Boy” by B.T. Gottfried, without a parent’s signature.

The book challenges in Republican-dominated Forsyth County followed conservative claims that the district was teaching harmful material on race. That controversy sometimes centered on district efforts to include nonwhite students in what was once an entirely white county. White mobs drove out the county’s entire Black population in 1912.

Georgia is just one state that has made it easier to challenge books. The American Library Association reported more than 1,200 challenges to books nationwide in 2022, by far the most since the ALA began keeping data 20 years ago

Last week, authors, parents, publisher Penguin Random House and writers’ group PEN America sued Florida’s Escambia County school system, saying the school board was removing and restricting books even though a review committee recommended keeping them.

In December, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights said it was investigating a school district in Granbury, Texas, after more than 100 books, including some LGBTQ themes were pulled from shelves.

United States News

Associated Press

Debt-ceiling deal: What’s in and what’s out of the agreement to avert US default

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have reached an agreement in principle on legislation to increase the nation’s borrowing authority and avoid a default. Negotiators are now racing to finalize the bill’s text. McCarthy said the House will vote on the legislation on Wednesday, giving the Senate time to consider […]

21 hours ago

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS...

Associated Press

Biden, GOP reach tentative deal to raise debt ceiling, avoid calamitous US default

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached an “agreement in principle” late Saturday as they raced to strike a deal to limit federal spending and resolve the looming debt crisis, the House speaker said.

21 hours ago

Associated Press

Timeline of events leading to the impeachment of Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A timeline of events that have led to three-term Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, 60, being impeached Saturday. The vote by the GOP-controlled Texas House of Representatives also means Paxton is immediately suspended from office. 2015 Paxton takes office as attorney general after more than a decade in the Texas […]

21 hours ago

This undated photo provided by the Grand Forks County Correctional Center shows Steve Shand. Shand,...

Associated Press

Florida man at center of fatal human smuggling case pleads not guilty in Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Florida man charged with human smuggling after four migrants were found dead last year near the Canadian border has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges. Court records show that Steve Shand, of Deltona, Florida, entered the plea Friday in a hearing for his arraignment held via video conference. […]

21 hours ago

FILE - This June 14, 2018 file photo provided by the Indianapolis Police Department shows Indianapo...

Associated Press

Man charged with killing Indianapolis police officer seeking insanity defense

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A man charged with fatally shooting an Indianapolis police officer when she responded to a domestic violence call in 2020 is seeking an insanity defense as he seeks to avoid the death penalty. Attorneys for Elliahs Dorsey filed a motion with the court Wednesday saying a report prepared by a doctor states […]

21 hours ago

FILE - Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger speaks during a meeting with President Donald Trum...

Associated Press

Former US diplomat Henry Kissinger celebrates 100th birthday, still active in global affairs

Former diplomat and presidential advisor Henry Kissinger marks his 100th birthday on Saturday, outlasting many of his political contemporaries who guided the United States through one of its most tumultuous periods including the presidency of Richard Nixon and the Vietnam War. Born in Germany on May 27, 1923, Kissinger remains known for his key role […]

21 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

Desert Institute for Spine Care

Spinal fusion surgery has come a long way, despite misconceptions

As Dr. Justin Field of the Desert Institute for Spine Care explained, “we've come a long way over the last couple of decades.”

(Photo by Michael Matthey/picture alliance via Getty Images)...

Cox Communications

Valley Boys & Girls Club uses esports to help kids make healthy choices

KTAR’s Community Spotlight focuses on the Boys & Girls Club of the Valley and the work to incorporate esports into children's lives.

...

Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

Company looking for oldest air conditioner and wants to reward homeowner with new one

Does your air conditioner make weird noises or a burning smell when it starts? If so, you may be due for an AC unit replacement.

Georgia school’s book bans may break civil rights law, federal officials warn