Resource Center

• By Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D. • Knowledge is Power • May 5, 2022 •

IDRA wholeheartedly signed on to letters submitted by the ACLU of Texas detailing the recent actions taken by Granbury ISD, Katy ISD, Klein ISD and North East ISD to censor the stories and voices of primarily Black and LGBTQ+ communities and the legal implications of the school districts’ efforts. The letters demand the return of the books to library shelves, in addition to requesting that the districts acknowledge the harm caused by these actions and ensure that they follow established policies for reviewing book challenges in the future.

Examples of books targeted for removal include the following, most of which are highly acclaimed, award-winners (see *).

The United States’ history of racism

• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, by Isabel Wilkerson*
• Citizen: An American Lyric, by Claudia Rankine*
• Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet, by Andrea Chang*
• Everything You Love Will Burn: Inside the Rebirth of White Nationalism in America, by Vegas Tenold
• The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander*
• Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation, by Duncan Tonatiuh*
• Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, by Ibram X. Kendi*
• Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, by Ibram X. Kendi
• They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group, by Susan Bartoletti*
• This Is Your Time, by Ruby Bridges*

Prominent books by Black women authors with themes of race and racism

• And Still I Rise, by Maya Angelou*
• Beloved, by Toni Morrison*
• The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
• Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi*

• All American Boys, by Jason Reynolds*
• Ghost Boys, by Jewel Parker Rhodes*
• The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas*

Fiction centered on LGBTQ+ and Black and brown characters and plotlines

• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, by Benjamin Alire Sáenz*
• Ash, by Malinda Lo*
• The Breakaways, by Cathy Johnson*
• Class Act, by Jerry Craft
• Princess Princess Ever After, by Kay O’Neil*
• Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: A Modern Graphic Retelling of Little Women, by Ray Tercerio
• Monday’s Not Coming, by Tiffany Jackson*
• Out of Darkness, by Ashley Hope Pérez*

• Gender Identity: The Ultimate Teen Guide (It Happened to Me), by Cynthia Winfield
• In Our Mothers’ House, by Patricia Polacco*
• New Kid, by Jerry Craft*
• Pride: Celebrating Diversity & Community, by Robin Stevenson*

LGBTQ+ issues

• Gay Issues and Politics: Marriage, the Military, & Work Place Discrimination, by Jaime Seba
• Gender Identity: The Search for Self, by Kate Light
• Transgender Rights and Protections, by Rebecca T. Klein
• V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore*
• The Year They Burned the Books, by Nancy Garden*

• Esperanza Rising, by Pam Muñoz Ryan
• Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, by Marjane Satrapi*
• Refugee, by Alan Gratz*

The Holocaust

• Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation, by Ari Folman*
• Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History, by Art Spiegelman*
• Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale: And Here My Troubles Began, by Art Spiegelman*
• Night, by Elie Wiesel*

• The Cider House Rules, by John Irving
• Equal Rights (What Do We Mean by Human Rights), by Maureen O’Connor, a book about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Roe v. Wade: A Woman’s Choice, by Susan Dudley Gold
• Roe v. Wade: The Untold Story of the Landmark Supreme Court Decision that Made Abortion Legal, by Marian Faux

• 100 Questions You’d Never Ask Your Parents, by Elisabeth Henderson
• Safe Sex 101: An Overview for Teens, by Margaret O. Hyde

[©2022, IDRA. This article originally appeared in the May 5, 2022, edition of Knowledge is Power by the Intercultural Development Research Association. Permission to reproduce this article is granted provided the article is reprinted in its entirety and proper credit is given to IDRA and the author.]