How Will Fort Bend ISD Respond?
Fort Bend Trustee David Hamilton formally challenged 35 books in the District he serves. He hasn't read a single one.
Blasphemy. Vulgar and racist language. Radical political ideology. Radically pro-abortion. Violence including self-harm and suicidal ideations. Anti-religious. Profanity. Rape. Gore. Alcohol use by minors. Illegal drug use. Controversial religious commentary.
When objectors specify ideology they oppose, in addition to the sexually explicit content they describe, how is one to know whether they oppose the book based on the sexually descriptive content, or the ideas it contains? This distinction matters. In Island Trees v. Pico the Supreme Court ruled that the Island Trees School Board did *not* have the authority to remove books it characterized as “anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and just plain filthy.”
School Districts May Not Remove Books Because of the Ideas They Contain
The Supreme Court ruling in Island Trees v. Pico offers some important reminders that are directly applicable to these 35 book challenges filed by Fort Bend ISD Trustee David Hamilton.
- The First Amendment trumps local school board authority to remove books from high school and junior high libraries. They stated, “students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the school house gate.”
- School boards’ discretion in matters of curriculum to not extend into the school library, where students are free to engage in voluntary inquiry.
- School boards may determine the content of their school libraries, but “that discretion cannot be exercised in a narrowly partisan or political manner.” The ruling goes on to explain, “Local school boards may not remove books from school libraries simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books and seek by their removal to prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion or other matters of opinion.”
Keep these constitutional truths in mind as you read through some of the 35 challenges Trustee Hamilton submitted to the school district he is elected to serve.
Sampling of Fort Bend ISD Trustee David Hamilton’s 35 Formal Book Challenges
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
Hamilton points the excerpts listed on BookLooks to summarize his objections to this award winning coming of age memoir that highlights their unique experience and perspective growing up queer and Black. Trustee Hamilton warns that as a result of exposure to this library book, the District might experience “more parents and pastors reading excerpts at school board meetings, grievances filed against the book, and TEA complaints” for “failure to comply with SBOE/TSLAC. Hamilton says All Boys Aren’t Blue is best suited for “perverted adults” and believes content that does not include “vulgar or racist language that we do not want our students to use” would be comparable replacements. Unsurprisingly he doesn’t offer any alternative suggestions he would find acceptable. That would require reading, after all.
Outcome: the reconsideration committee voted to retain All Boys Aren’t Blue but with significant restrictions in place. The book is now only available, with parent opt in permission, to high school students in AP, Capstone and Dual Credit courses.
What Girls Are Made Of by Elana K. Arnold.
David Hamilton began targeting Elena K. Arnold’s What Girls Are Made Of on his public trustee X/Twitter platform weeks before filing the formal reconsideration request- which may serve as good of a reminder as any, that even David Hamilton understands this book is not legally “pornographic” or “obscene” (after all, considering how many times he’s posted excerpts from it, wouldn’t he be in jail, instead of sitting on the Fort Bend ISD School Board if it were?!). In many of his social media rants he calls out a book that “references sex with Jesus.” This is that book. Having only read excerpts, he says the predominant theme of the book is “blasphemy, radical political ideology and sexualization of minors.” He would like to see What Girls Are Made Of, which he says is suitable for “adults who like blasphemy” replaced by “literature that is not blasphemous, explicitly sexual or radically pro-abortion.” Last time we checked, blasphemous, pro-abortion books weren’t illegal. But banning books because of the ideas they contain, is.
Outcome: BANNED
Fight for the First in Fort Bend ISD! Sign the Petition.
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
David Hamilton calls Oryx and Crake, which has been featured on AP Literature exams, “child pornography.” Once again, his objections are based on BookLooks excerpts. He says as a result of exposure to this novel, students will experience the “normalization of child pornography and child rape” and fears “the possibility that some readers might experiment on classmates, relatives, or neighbors.” He says this novel is most suitable for “perverted adults.” This man brings his internet trolling from Twitter to the formal reconsideration process by implying anyone who finds value or meaning in this novel, or might dare to defend its inclusion in high school classrooms or libraries is “perverted.”
Outcome: BANNED
Identical by Ellen Hopkins
Fort Bend ISD Trustee David Hamilton challenged Identical by Ellen Hopkins based on the “BookLooks excerpts.” In fact, he literally copied and pasted the Summary of Concerns from the crowd sourced site into his form. David alleges that the fictional depictions of “sexual assault and child molestation,” “violence including self-harm and suicidal ideations; profanity and drug and alcohol use…might result in FBISD being charged with distributing harmful materials to children.” Hamilton would like the District to replace Identical with “content that inspires students and teaches them valuable lessons and life skills.” Hamilton completely disregards the legal requirements of considering a literary work as a whole, as the Texas law, and the First Amendment demand.
Outcome: BANNED
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Hamilton objects to this 1988 fictional novel based on the excerpts he reports to have read on BookLooks. He claims the library book, found in high school libraries, is “not appropriate for children.” He objects not only to the “explicit sexual assault” but to the “mentions of rape, gore alcohol use by minors, illegal drug use and controversial religious commentary.” Hamilton fears exposure to this high school library book might result in students thinking the “language does not matter or that rape is okay.”
Outcome: Unknown (book is not yet listed on FBISD website)
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
David Hamilton reports that based on BookLooks excerpts, that the theme and purpose of The Handmaid’s Tale is to “sexualize readers and manipulate them into viewing religion as bad for the world.” Despite the novel having been in existence and found in many school libraries and even cited on AP English Literature exams, since its publication in 1985, Hamilton says Fort Bend ISD- the District which he serves as a current sitting board member- is at risk of being “sued for distributing harmful content to minors” if the book is not removed. Rather than recommend comparable titles Hamilton would like the school district to offer students in place of The Handmaid’s Tale, he leaves it up to the District to figure out what “content that is not anti-religious, pervasively vulgar, and educationally unsuitable” might conform to his ideological expectations.
Outcome: Retained
Fight for the First in Fort Bend ISD! Sign the Petition.
A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard
David Hamilton incorrectly labels this non-fiction memoir by kidnapping and childhood sexual abuse survivor, Jaycee Dugard, “fiction.” He claims this first-hand account written by a childhood trauma survivor and found only available to high school aged readers “appeals to the prurient interest of minors in sex, nudity or excretion and is not appropriate for children.” He objects to the “rape excerpts” which he claims might result in “grievances, TEA complaints and broken trust between the community and the District.”
Outcome: Unknown (book is not yet listed on FBISD website)
Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian
David Hamilton’s challenge of Like a Love Story makes it abundantly clear he didn’t bother to read this story. He lazily objects to “graphic sexual content” supposedly based on the BookLooks excerpts he read. He says the theme and purpose of this historical fiction, coming of age in the 1980s at the height of the AIDS crisis, queer love story is “to appeal to the prurient interest in sex in the reader, which in this case is mostly schoolchildren.” Keep in mind, this book is available to students for optional self selection in the high school libraries. Hamilton states that exposure to this novel might result in “grievances, TEA complaints, and possibly criminal charges now that HB900 brings the penal code into play.” Who is going to break it to David that the penal code has always “been in play” and applied to books found in libraries and schools? Rather than offer some suggestions of other historical fiction novels that might offer similar insights and perspectives into queer identity and history, Hamilton suggests replacing this novel with “content that is aligned with the TEKS and inspires students with valuable life skills.” Having read this story (in it's *entirety*), it's not difficult to imagine that plenty of queer students might find inspiration, hope and validation in the pages of this library book.
Outcome: Unknown (book is not yet listed on FBISD website)
How will Fort Bend ISD Respond?
Prior to submitting these 35 formal requests for reconsideration, Trustee Hamilton proposed a complete overhaul to FBISD's EF Local (instructional materials selection and reconsideration) policy that would entirely remove librarians from the reconsideration process. The Board voted to table Hamilton's proposal, until after a workshop could be conducted. The Workshop is scheduled for tonight, June 5 at 6PM. Live stream and recording (if available) will be found here.
Currently 11 of the titles David Hamilton challenged have been banned from Fort Bend ISD. 1 (All Boys Aren’t Blue) has been “restricted” to require parent opt in for students in High School AP, Dual Credit and on-ramp classes. 8 titles have been retained. And the fate of the remaining 15 books rest in the hands of the district reconsideration committees tasked with evaluating them. The District has added some transparency to the reconsideration process. They list (almost?) all of the titles under reconsideration, and outcomes, on this Book Concerns page.
Defend students’ rights to read in Fort Bend ISD, now!
- Sign the petition by local FBISD community members calling for even more transparency to the reconsideration process.
- E-mail the FBISD School Board to voice support for, and ask their help in, defending librarians, libraries and the freedom to read in FBISD.