Book Banning's Early Chapter | A Second Look Podcast

17 Sep 2024 (2 months ago)

The Kanawha County Textbook Controversy

In 1974, a significant event known as the "battle of the textbooks" occurred in Kanawha County, Charleston, West Virginia. (1m14s)
The protests escalated significantly, with protesters blocking school buses, picketing businesses, and resorting to violence, including shootings and bombings. (15m9s)

The events in Kanawha County in 1974 are seen as a pivotal moment for the conservative movement in the United States, shaping their approach to education and political activism. (20m10s)
Thousands of books were banned in Charleston, West Virginia as a result of actions taken in Kanawha County. (19m55s)

For approximately 18 years, Norma and Mel Gabler have been involved in disputes concerning textbooks and the administration of schools. (10s)
Norma and Mel Gabler, a couple from Texas, started a movement to influence the content of children's textbooks, advocating for the removal of materials they deemed offensive. (27m40s)

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, provided support to the Gablers' movement and viewed the events in Kanawha County as a model for nationwide parental rights organization. (31m4s)
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative organization, played a role in the growth of Moms for Liberty, a group that started during the pandemic to protest mask mandates and has been vocal about removing certain books from schools. (39m8s)

A Buford County citizen emailed a school board member about 97 books they believed should be banned from schools. (33m47s)
In Buford, South Carolina, 46 community volunteers, along with teachers and librarians, read and discussed books over a year, ultimately voting to return 92 books to schools, with five deemed too graphic. (41m20s)

Despite the community-led effort in Buford, the South Carolina Board of Education implemented a new regulation granting the state final say over what can be included in school libraries, effectively banning books with depictions of "sexual content." (42m8s)
The parent who originally complained about the books found them through a website called BookLooks, which uses a 0-5 rating system to identify books with mature content. (35m38s)

Concerns have arisen among parents nationwide regarding a perceived decline in moral standards and patriotism within schools, with some perceiving challenges to traditional values. (20s)
Green did not comment on the Heritage Foundation's support of Moms for Liberty, a group challenging a system they believe promotes permissiveness, questions traditional values, and does not effectively educate children. (40m0s)

Alice Moore, a member of the Canoa County School Board, objected to the use of "urban dialect" in textbooks, interpreting it as representative of Black authors. (7m4s)
Moore also found issue with the subject matter of some books, including depictions of prostitution and abortion, arguing that public schools should focus on basic skills and avoid controversial topics. (8m14s)

A book banning campaign in Kanawha County, West Virginia, centered around objections to the content of certain books, with critics labeling the language as "ghetto language" and the content as "unamerican." (13m53s)
Elmer Fike, a businessman and Republican County chairman, joined Moore in her protest, gathering examples of what he considered offensive language from the textbooks and publishing them in a newspaper advertisement. (10m19s)

Marvin Horen, a preacher and leader of the anti-book movement, was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in the protests, while the Ku Klux Klan also became involved, further escalating the situation. (16m58s)

The textbook controversy in Kanawha County coincided with a period of national distrust in government following the Vietnam War and Watergate, leading to a shift in the political engagement of white Evangelical Christians. (22m10s)
Their efforts led to publishers labeling evolution as a theory and defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, changes that were adopted nationwide due to the high cost of producing multiple editions. (27m58s)