FEBRUARY 20, 2023 (Prospect.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n WILFREDO LEE\/AP PHOTO<\/p>\n\n\n\n Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to reporters at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida on Feb. 15, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Haymarket Books, a prominent left-wing publishing company, has waded into the battle for education at-large. In the wake of a coordinated right-wing attack on public education led by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the nonprofit is offering some Black history books for free to everyone and sending free print copies to requests made out of Florida. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Haymarket\u2019s commitment comes at a time of large-scale upheaval in the education system. DeSantis is just the start: the whole Republican Party has launched a campaign to drastically censor what can be taught in schools, often targeting Black and queer content. At the same time, conservative parents have become more involved than ever in the education system through school boards and groups such as Moms For Liberty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The plot to censor left-wing ideas in school comes on the heels of a moral panic around critical race theory that culminated in more than 15 states imposing restrictions on its use in the classroom as of 2023, according to an analysis by EducationWeek<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n More from Ramenda Cyrus<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The attacks on education are coming at the school boards level as well. According to Pen America<\/a>, from 2021 to 2022, more than 130 school districts across 32 states have instituted some sort of book ban. Of these bans, the report notes that more than 40 percent dealt with LGTBQ themes or had a person of color as a protagonist or secondary character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest escalation is Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) introducing a bill that would federally censor LGBT content being taught in schools. GOP Reps. George Santos (R-NY) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) cosponsored the bill, which could be used to restrict queer content in schools, under the guise of preventing the \u201csexualization\u201d of children, which is often<\/a> just a code anything involving for the LGBTQ community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At the state level, the most notable example is Florida\u2019s Stop WOKE Act, which was passed last year, and prohibits, among other things, content that teaches that a person\u2019s \u201cstatus as privileged or oppressed\u201d is dependent on their race or sex. The act is just one part of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 multi-pronged attack on \u201cwoke indoctrination\u201d in education. His censorship law is so sweeping and punitive that many teachers have packed up their entire classroom libraries<\/a> out of fear they\u2019d be thrown in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Vox<\/a> reported, DeSantis has largely focused on K-12 schools, but has also set his sights on higher education. College Board\u2019s original Advanced Placement (AP) African-American Studies course was rejected in Florida under the Stop WOKE Act, which led to its revision to exclude certain themes related to Black history, and figures such as Audre Lorde and bell hooks. Haymarket Books\u2019 move is a direct response to this growing agitation over progressive ideas being taught. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While there is no exact definition of what \u201cwoke\u201d means, for conservatives it is obviously a thinly veiled villainization of non-white people or the queer community. Perhaps most tellingly is their obsessive focus on the idea of intersectionality<\/a>, which advocates for solidarity and understanding across the groups that have suffered under various forms of oppression\u2014racism, homophobia or transphobia, poverty, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reason for DeSantis\u2019s objection is a very old one\u2014the fear from an oppressor that the downtrodden will unite against him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Its inclusion in the AP course drew DeSantis\u2019s ire: \u201cNow who would say that an important part of Black History is queer theory? That is somebody pushing an agenda on our kids, and so when you look to see they have stuff about intersectionality, abolishing prisons, that\u2019s a political agenda. And so, that\u2019s the wrong side of the line for Florida standards,\u201d he said<\/a> in defense of the rejection of the course. <\/p>\n\n\n\n DeSantis\u2019s objection rejects the idea that two different kinds of oppression could ever be intertwined, which is obviously nonsense. They can\u2019t help be, and would be considered so by anyone taking the field seriously. But the reason for his objection is a very old one\u2014the fear from an oppressor that the downtrodden will unite against him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, in response, the College Board dropped Kimberl\u00e9 Crenshaw, who originally developed the concept. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe know that books can be dangerous to those in power, especially when they are in the hands of folks who are organizing to fight for liberation. That\u2019s why we publish them. That\u2019s why they\u2019re trying to ban them,\u201d Haymarket Books wrote<\/a> in the blog post announcing the free e-books. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The company is also offering free hard copies to people and groups based out of Florida. Dana Blanchard, program coordinator for Haymarket, told the Prospect<\/em> that the interested groups have ranged from educators to community organizers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Haymarket\u2019s move serves as a reminder of the ways the left-wing movement can be forward-thinking and claim the mantle of protecting liberties from conservative attacks on freedom. All too often, progressives are simply reacting to marginalized groups having their rights stripped systematically, instead of taking concrete steps to fight back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe know that books in and of themselves don\u2019t change the world,\u201d Blanchard said. \u201cBut people reading together, learning together, organizing together; people coming together to know these ideas, and to think about how our side wins is actually dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This lefty publisher is giving out censored books for free in Florida. BY RAMENDA CYRUS FEBRUARY 20, 2023 (Prospect.org) WILFREDO LEE\/AP PHOTO Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to reporters at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida on Feb. 15, 2023. Haymarket Books, a prominent left-wing publishing company, has… Continue reading ![\"desantis](\"https:\/\/prospect.org\/downloads\/19219\/download\/desantis%2002202023.png?cb=f09c512033a6ca4e1355eea31d3a7cca\")
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