ACLU of South Carolina responds to bill banning books

BEAUFORT, SC (WSAV) – With her new policy, South Carolina Secretary of Education Ellen Weaver believes everyone should have the opportunity to challenge what books are in school libraries.

Resolution 43-170 gives the state Board of Education the authority to ban books from schools if they meet the federal definition of “sexual conduct.”

Parents would be entitled to five appeals per month, and if the local school board does not approve their appeal, the decision can be appealed at the state level.

If the panel approves, the book would be banned not only in this district, but in schools across the state.

“I think the censorship advocates are playing word games with book bans,” said Paul Bowers, communications director for the ACLU of South Carolina. “They’re trying to redefine the term. But if you take a book out of a library or a classroom, that’s a book ban.”

The ACLU of South Carolina says the policy amounts to “censorship” of students and could potentially cause “classics” to disappear from shelves and children’s hands.

“The most important factor to be considered here is the inclusion of any description or depiction of sexual behaviour. This term is poorly defined and, depending on how it is interpreted, could lead to the banning of books as diverse as The colour purple, 1984or Ulysses.”

Last year, Beaufort County set up special committees to review 97 books in school libraries after complaints were filed. Five of those books were banned. The rest were returned to the shelves of approved grade levels.

“I think Beaufort County in particular was a test case,” Bowers continued. “We saw what happened. We saw mass attempts to purge books. And when those local efforts were thwarted, those same activist groups turned their attention to the state level.”

“We’ve seen their tactics. We’ve seen what books they want to get, and unfortunately that will open the floodgates.”