Amanda Gorman, the nation’s first National Youth Poet Laureate, spoke out Tuesday against what she described as a book ban after access to the poem she recited at the inauguration of President Joe Biden was limited in a Florida school.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools moved “The Hill We Climbed” to the middle school library section after a parent filed a formal objection to the work, according to documents obtained by the Florida Freedom to Read Project and shared with the media. He The New Herald first reported the story.
«Unnecessary #bookbans like these are on the rise, and we must fight back,» Gorman said in a post on Facebook that accompanied a one-page statement saying that his book had been banned from an elementary school.
In a statement, the district said no literature had been banned or removed.
“It was determined at the school that ‘The Hill We Climb’ is more suitable for high school students and has been filed in the high school section of the media center. The book remains available in the media center,” the statement said.
A review of five titles available in the library at the Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes began after a parent of two students filled out forms requesting that the titles be removed «from the total environment,» according to documents obtained by Freedom to Read. . Project, a group founded by public school parents dedicated to fighting what it calls state book bans.
The review, conducted by a committee made up of various educators and others associated with the school, resulted in «The Hill We Climb» being moved to the middle school section of the school’s library, which is formally called its Media Center, Miami-Dade District. saying.
The committee also determined that at least two other titles it reviewed should be moved to middle school shelves, according to the documents.
The documents were obtained after the Freedom to Read Project filed a public records request in February and include the parent’s challenge as well as the review committee’s written conclusions, the group’s Raegan Miller said.
Miller denounced the school restriction because, he said, children who seek knowledge in their own free time and who might not be able to buy books easily should be encouraged.
“This is not classroom instruction,” he said. “These are kids looking for more information.”
The Miami Herald reported that challenges to accessing books in Florida school libraries have increased since Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a series of education-related bills, including what critics have dubbed the bill «Don’t Say Gay», which prohibits K-3 instruction related to gender identity and sexual orientation.
DeSantis’ office did not respond to a request for comment.
Last week, Gorman’s publisher, Penguin Random House, teamed up with the nonprofit PEN America to file a lawsuit challenging what the organization characterized as «unconstitutional book bans» in the Escambia County school district. in Florida.
In Miami-Dade County, the parent who asked for titles to be reconsidered told the Miami Herald that she was not in favor of «removing or censoring» books, saying she wanted students to learn «the truth» about Cuba.
The father did not respond to a voicemail left by NBC News seeking comment.
Objection paperwork for «Cuban Kids» and «Countries in the News Cuba» mentioned «indoctrination,» according to the documents.
In the paperwork for «The ABC’s of Black History,» the father wrote that it contained CRT, short for critical race theory, and «gender ideology,» according to the documents.
The title was designed for elementary school level reading, but the committee recommended that it be moved to middle school shelves due to vocabulary and subject matter, according to the documents.
On the form about «The Hill I Climb,» the father wrote that it was «not educational» and contained indirect «hateful messages.» The committee found Gorman’s book to have educational value, according to the documents, but moved because its vocabulary «was determined to be of value to high school students.»
in a cheep Posted later Tuesday, Gorman said a ban is «any action taken against a book that restricts or reduces access to a book.» The decision to move her book after a parent’s complaint «reduces the access that elementary school students would have previously had to my poem,» Gorman said.