When a Texas school board moved to ban library books, these students clapped back ...
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00:00Someone had said that a lot of these books are being banned because the youth find them disturbing.
00:04I have never, in my experience, read a library book that I've been disturbed, that has really bothered me.
00:10And if I have, I would have just closed it and put it away.
00:25I want to start this out simple.
00:27The job of the superintendent and the school board is to not only protect the students in this district,
00:32but to make them feel like they have a place in this community.
00:34But I got to tell you, from what I'm seeing so far, you are failing at your job.
00:38I am queer, I am brown, and I'm very proud of that.
00:41And I am well aware of the censorship that has happened to my people over the centuries.
00:46I'm well aware of this, and I think it is horrible.
00:50And I don't think that little children should be shocked or disgusted by our identities.
00:56An analysis of the 850 book list found the following likely reasons for inclusion.
01:0160% because of LGBTQ+, 8% because of race and racism,
01:0613% because of sexual education, something that is not taught in all Texas schools.
01:11Mind you, these books are educational, not pornographic.
01:14There were books, one was called I'm Pregnant, Now What Do I Do? for teen pregnancy,
01:18sexual education, which we don't have at the high school.
01:21I'm not going to sit here and talk about the complete slippery slope that book banning leads to,
01:25because I learned from a book that I checked out from my school's library
01:29that I don't need to resort to logical fallacy to make a point.
01:32I'm simply going to say that no government, and public school is an extension of government,
01:37has ever banned books and banned information from its public and been remembered in history
01:41as the good guys.
01:42I think it's disgusting that even in 2022,
01:45we still have to have these discussions about censorship.
01:47I'm enraged that these harmless books are being attacked, and I'm not alone on this.
01:51I created a petition on Friday morning to allow other students and members of
01:54this community to have a voice where they may not be heard elsewhere.
01:58As of 3 p.m. today, we have 654 signatures with lots of comments from supporters.
02:03I am in the top 3% of my class.
02:06I'm on track to graduate with a multiplier in my degree and with distinction,
02:12and I don't say any of this to sit here and talk about myself or to brag,
02:15but I simply want to emphasize to y'all who it is that is upset about this book ban,
02:20and it's not just delinquents who want to read smut.
02:22It's honor students who want access to the full extent of their education.
02:26This constant need to control youth and their development
02:28shows a systematic problem within this school system.
02:32So many histories, such as those as LGBTQ plus people,
02:35indigenous people, and that of the true history
02:39of our country will be erased if this book ban falls through.