Parents from a Miami school believe that the poem “The Hill We Climbed”, written after the invasion of the Capitol, has the objective of indoctrinating children and for this reason they ask that it be removed from the library.
A Miami school has restricted access to a poem by the African-American Amanda Gorman, read during the inauguration of President Joe Biden in 2021, considering it inappropriate for younger children, an association announced Wednesday.
A mother of students, Diario Salinas, had asked at the end of March that removal of five books from the library from the Bob Graham School, believing that the works are intended to indoctrinate children, according to documents obtained by the Florida Freedom to Read Project organization and shared with Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Among these works is the poem “The Hill We Climbed” (“The Hill We Climb”, in Portuguese), read during the inauguration of the Democratic president by Amanda Gorman.
Amanda Gorman, the poet who was at the inauguration of Joe Biden, will be the first to declaim at the Super Bowl
The poet, then 22, caused a sensation, and several of her works reached top sales.
“The Hill We Climb” was intended to be a message of hope and a call for unity, addressed to a divided country, having been written after the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when thousands of supporters of Republican Donald Trump tried to prevent Biden from certifying his electoral victory.
The poem has been moved to section 11+ at Bob Graham School.
The decision reignites a book ban debatea particularly sensitive issue in the United States.
Yet another book censored in Florida. Now, it was the turn of a children’s book, which shows a witch taking a bath.
In a context of culture wars between Republicans and Democrats, which divide the country, some conservative states try to monitor reading, for example by discarding books that they accuse, for example, of promoting homosexuality, progressive ideologies or being too shocking. Classics such as Toni Morrison’s novels or Art Spiegelman’s “Maus” have been targeted by school authorities.
Amanda Gorman, the latest to join this list, said she was “horrified.”
For the poetess, this decision is equivalent to “violating freedom of expression”.
In its written decision, the school board of the Miami school, however, recognized the educational value of the poem, with Amanda Gorman being “the youngest poet in the history of the United States to have read it during a presidential inauguration ceremony.” ”.
Source: Observadora
