Franklin, WI: Forward Latino, a non-profit, non-partisan service and advocacy organization headquartered in Franklin, Wisconsin issued the following statement after the passage of H.R. 5 by the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Forward Latino condemns the passage of H.R. 5, the Parents Bill of Rights Act, better known by many as “The Book Banning Bill.” Put forth by the party in the majority, the bill includes numerous provisions. These include a mandate requiring all schools that receive federal funding to make readily available a list of all books in their libraries as well as details of school curriculum at all grade levels. The passage of this bill follows well-orchestrated campaigns by
extremist groups across the country seeking to ban books that provide an accurate historical record of our nation’s history, particularly in the areas where minority groups suffered from oppression and were denied their individual rights and freedoms.
According to the American Library Association there were attempts to ban 1,651 books in 2022 alone and that is without the assistance of H.R. 5. Recently in Wisconsin the Muskego-Norway School District Board of Directors banned “When the Emperor was Divine” a historical fiction novel about the internment of American citizens of Japanese heritage during World War II. Were the Book Banning Bill to become law, the groups funding these organized campaigns would benefit by being able to conduct their efforts in a much more efficient and cost-effective manner.
History has shown us time and time again that when a person or party seeks to sanitize their history and prescribe a singular view of thought, they are attacking the very freedoms they purport to be protecting, as freedom cannot exist in the absence of democracy or independent thought.”
