As some states have taken steps to restrict books in libraries and schools, Minnesota is moving in the opposite direction.
A bill has been introduced in the Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate that would prohibit the banning of books in public and school libraries based on ideological objections to their content, Minnesota Public Radio reports. The legislation, which has the backing of Gov. Tim Walz, has been called “a ban on book bans.”
“Those who have asked for book bans have never been on the right side of history, they have never been viewed as being the folks that were the heroes of freedom, they have never been viewed as the people that were looking out for others,” Gov. Walz told NPR. “Trying to tell someone else’s children that they can’t read ‘The Hobbit,’ or whatever it might be, you’re in the wrong.”
The author of the House bill, Rep. Cedrick Frazier, a Democrat, told MPR that his goal, as the parent of three daughters, is to make sure his children are “critical thinkers, make sure that they can take care of themselves, make sure they can think for themselves, make sure they can challenge when they need to challenge.
“That is how we prepare our kids and our youth for the world,” Rep. Frazier said. “So anytime I see a movement that is about shutting off the very thing, the very ideals that can allow for our kids to be those critical thinkers, for our kids to be the next not only state and regional, and national leaders, but world leaders. I have a problem with that.”
CBS News notes that the proposed bill “does not extend to the classroom” and “explicitly states that parents still have the right under existing law to seek ‘alternative instruction’ if they object to content being taught.”
Amy Reiter is a writer in Brooklyn.
