Library books and books chosen for assigned reading that are inappropriate for children aren't all necessarily pornographic, such as the graphic (picture) book, Maus, although Maus does include one instance of nudity. But when books are pulled from library shelves as a result of parental demands, leftist teachers, administrators, school board members, community activists, and the mainstream media swing into action, labeling the parents' attempts to protect their children's innocence as "book banning," "censorship," and "Orwellian."

On January 10, the McMinn County, Tennessee School Board removed Maus, a 30-year-old story of the holocaust written by Art Spiegelman, who won a Pulitzer Prize for the work in 1992, from the eighth-grade English language arts curriculum. The board cited as its main objection that the book is not age appropriate. "It shows people hanging, it shows them killing kids, why does the educational system promote this kind of stuff? It is not wise or healthy," said School Board Member Tony Allman, according to the Associated Press.

The board issued the following eloquent and reasonable explanation of its decision:

One of the most important roles of an elected board of education is to reflect the values of the community it serves. The McMinn County Board of Education voted to remove the graphic novel Maus from McMinn County Schools because of its unnecessary use of profanity and nudity and its depiction of violence and suicide. Taken as a whole, the Board felt this work was simply too adult-oriented for use in our schools.

We do not diminish the value of Maus as an impactful and meaningful piece of literature, nor do we dispute the importance of teaching our children the historical and moral lessons and realities of the Holocaust. To the contrary, we have asked our administrators to find other works that accomplish the same educational goals in a more age-appropriate fashion. The atrocities of the Holocaust were shameful beyond description, and we all have an obligation to ensure that younger generations learn of its horrors to ensure that such an event is never repeated.

We simply do not believe that this work is an appropriate text for our students to study.

Despite its sound reasoning, the board has been roundly criticized, with hysterical accusations of "book banning" and censorship coming from the Left. But as supporters of the board's action correctly note: "The graphic narrative Maus is becoming a point on which the Left is hanging its accusation of book banning."

For example, in addition to numerous media reports condemning the action, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, whose union is not represented in McMinn County, said: "Yes it is uncomfortable to talk about genocide, but it is our history and educating about it helps us not repeat this horror." The Holocaust Museum tweeted: "Teaching about the Holocaust using books like Maus can inspire students to think critically about the past and their own roles and responsibilities today."

What's it about?

Maus is a tale of Spiegelman's Jewish parents living in 1940s Poland, using a format whereby the author interviews his father about his experiences as a Holocaust survivor. The book uses graphic images of cats to depict the nazis and mice to depict the Jews. The Poles are portrayed as pigs, Americans as dogs, the British as fish, the French as frogs, and the Swedish as deer. Reviewers have described the book as a mix of genres, from biography to autobiography to history to fiction.

Maus employs postmodernist techniques, which by definition reject objective fact. One student of postmodernism described it this way: "I don't care what you believe — you can believe whatever you want, and you can't tell me I'm wrong, whatever I believe or do. Seriously, that's it in a nutshell."

But is Maus truly banned?

Although the book's merits as an educational tool, albeit not suitable for students younger than college age, could be debated forever, the real question is whether or not Maus was truly banned by the McMinn, Tennessee School Board. A February 5 article in the American Spectator asserts that "Maus was not banned. When a county school board in Tennessee chooses to not use a certain book in an eighth-grade curriculum, that is not a ban."

The Spectator further states that the school district "didn't choose thousands of books on the topic. Were they banned? With a limited amount of time to teach, many worthy books are not chosen... Sometimes the choice is wise, sometimes it is not. But even an unwise choice is not the same thing as forbidding a book to be read. It is not banning...

"Students' lockers are not being checked for the 'banned' book. It is sold in stores and delivered to doors. There is no attempt by authorities to stop it from being read... So why do all these news outlets, talking heads, and tweeters insist on calling this a banning?"

The article ominously points out that "misuse of the word serves a rhetorical purpose. It is meant to eliminate a meaningful consideration of the pros and cons of this specific choice. It instantly labels the deed and those who did it as enemies of all that is good and right, fascists, as they were called again and again in the Star Chamber world of the woke and the would-be woke."

In a similar manner, Kyle Smith of the National Review correctly asserted on February 8 that "all of the major media outlets reported something that simply did not happen."

Smith wrote: "When the Right takes a book off a school reading list, it's a 'ban' and cause for despair, calumny, and outrage. When the Left does so, it's merely a removal and passes by with hardly any mention in the media...

"The media almost unanimously used the word 'ban' to describe a Tennessee school board's decision to remove Art Spiegelman's graphic novel Maus. Yet the book was not banned. It was removed from a curriculum. Meanwhile, on January 24, a school board in Washington State removed To Kill a Mockingbird from its required curriculum for the ninth grade. The response to this move was about as loud as the sound a sparrow feather makes when it crashes into a pillow."

The bottom line is that parents, concerned citizens, and conservative school board members and candidates need to arm themselves with these truthful, rational and sensible arguments so they are prepared when confronted with irrational leftwing name-calling and accusations.

School board members have every right to determine curriculum; it is their most important job, and the McMinn, Tennessee School Board has done just that. It did NOT ban Maus, it correctly took action that it believed to be in the best interests of the students they were elected to serve.

The mainstream media and their supporters are spreading lies because it suits their agenda. The McMinn School Board should stand strong and not rescind its sound decision.

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