Question 1

Has ‘The Hill We Climb’ been banned by a Florida school?

Accepted Answer

The controversy around the book being moved has added to the debate around challenges to library books across the country. The Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes, which teaches pre-K to eighth grade, restricted access to Gorman’s book after a complaint from a parent, according to notes from a school review committee meeting seen by The Washington Post. The committee deemed the book suitable for middle school students, saying that it had “educational value because of its historical significance,” citing Gorman’s reading of the poem at President Biden’s inauguration. The meeting notes did not explain why it restricted access for elementary school students but showed that the committee made its decision in early April. The school argues that the move is different from a book ban. According to Ana Rhodes, a spokesperson for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the school staff moved the book from the elementary school section of the media center to the middle school section. To read the book, an elementary school student would now have to request it from a media specialist and prove that they read at the fifth-grade level, which is the book’s reading level, according to the book’s readability rating. Otherwise, the students’ access to the book is restricted. Gorman argued that the action should still be considered a ban. “A school book ban is any action taken against a book that leaves access to a book restricted or diminished,” she said in a tweet Tuesday night. “This decision of moving my book from its original place, taken after one parent complained, diminishes the access elementary-schoolers would have previously had to my poem.”

Question 2

Why is Gorman’s book facing restrictions?

Accepted Answer

Gorman’s poem, about the trauma of watching an attack on Washington after the presidential election, was challenged alongside four other books, “The ABCs of Black History,” “Cuban Kids,” “Countries in the News: Cuba” and “Love to Langston,” on the complaint of one parent, according to the Florida Freedom to Read Project, a nonprofit group focused on defending students’ right to access information at school. In the complaint, the parent wrote that Gorman’s poem contained indirect “hate messages” and served to “cause confusion and indoctrinate students.” The complaint wrongly identified Oprah Winfrey, the talk show host, as the “author publisher” of the poem. Winfrey wrote the foreword for Gorman’s book, and her name appears on the cover, but she is not the author. The school restricted access to four of the five challenged books in April, according to the complaint reviewed by The Post. The Miami Herald first reported on the restrictions. A school materials review committee decided that apart from “Countries in the News: Cuba,” the titles would be “better suited” or “more appropriate” for middle school students, the Herald reported.

Question 3

How common are book challenges in Florida?

Accepted Answer

Gorman’s reaction to the restrictions comes a week after her publisher, Penguin Random House, and the advocacy group PEN America filed a federal lawsuit against Florida’s Escambia County School District for restricting access to 10 books about race and LGBTQ+ identities. According to an analysis by PEN America, Florida is second only to Texas in the number of books restricted in its schools. Thirteen school districts in Florida banned books between July and December, the most in the country, the group found. “That Florida has the highest number of districts banning books shows the widespread effort across the state,” said Kasey Meehan, director of the Freedom to Read program at PEN America. “The situation is chronic in Florida and worsening around the country.” Book restrictions and challenges are escalating alongside legislation in Florida that prevents the teaching of certain types of content, Meehan said. Recent laws passed by the Florida legislature bar teachers from discussing material that the lawmakers say might result in students feeling guilty about the histories of their race and that restrict instruction on gender and sexuality. Some districts have been protectively removing books that could be in violation of the law; teachers found in violation of the laws could have their teaching certification revoked. A third Florida law requires schools to catalogue every book on their shelves in a “searchable format.” Then a media specialist or librarian must determine that the books do not contain pornography and are age-appropriate. Parents can challenge a school to remove any book.

Question 4

What is the reaction to the restrictions?

Accepted Answer

“The outpouring of support that Amanda and others are getting shows how out-of-control the book-banning movement has gotten,” Meehan said. “People are realizing that books are being targeted without regard to what is in them.” Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia state representative and gubernatorial candidate, was among those who amplified Gorman’s tweet. The White House called the restriction on the book a form of censorship Wednesday afternoon. “The poem ‘The Hill We Climb’ was written so that all young people would see themselves in a historical moment,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “Banning books is censorship, period. That’s what that is. When you ban a book, you are censoring it. It limits American freedom.” Hannah Natanson contributed to this report.

A Fla. school restricted poet Amanda Gorman’s book. Here’s what to know.