Book bans are nothing new; motivations behind them may be
By Lolita Huckaby
BEAUFORT – What in the world, one might wonder, would possess some 200 citizens to crowd into the Technical College of the Lowcountry’s auditorium on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, two weeks before Christmas?
According to one of the four speakers on a panel focused on the subject of book bans, it’s because of concern.
And watching audience responses to information tied to the current controversy facing the Beaufort County Board of Education, he wasn’t wrong.
As a quick update: school district officials have been challenged on the subject of 97 primarily young adult books that critics feel should be removed from the school library shelves because of “inappropriate” material. To date, four of those books have been cleared by two different committees doing independent reviews, but at least one appeal of that action has already been announced which would lead to the elected school board deciding whether to uphold the decision.
Sponsored by the Pat Conroy Literary Center, the panel consisted of former S.C. Poet Laureate Marjory Wentworth, state ACLU legal representative Josh Malkin, former journalist and father of three public school children Paul Bowers and North Charleston community activist AJ Davis – all obviously concerned about the attention book bans in public schools are generating not just in Beaufort County or even South Carolina, but across the country.
Ironically, on the panel there were no representatives of the Moms for Liberty, a “grassroots” organization which espouses the rights of public school parents that has been highly visible in the Beaufort County debate. When asked about that organization’s absence, PCLC Executive Director Jonathan Haupt responded the opinions of the late author about book bans was well known and “his opinions were being honored.”
Now it would seem Conroy might have enjoyed a lively debate on the topic but Sunday’s gathering was to share information, not just about the current school district issue but about the influences of groups like the Moms in the ongoing civil discourse about personal rights and the importance of protecting them.
A show of hands indicated about half in the audience were teachers or school librarians, individuals who are apparently being harassed by some critics for trying to do their jobs – teaching students to think. It was a safe assumption a majority of those present were parents with school children. There was at least one elected school board member on hand to listen and even one state representative – Rep. Michael Rivers (D-District 121), who used to serve on the school board, as well.
It wouldn’t be fair – or even possible – to say all gathered for the discussion were of a like mind – that banning books in school libraries is a slippery slope to hell. There was some head-nodding in agreement when the philosophies of Moms for Liberty groups were described as good, old-fashioned parents worried about their kids’ indoctrination.
The banning of certain books – for various reasons – is nothing new, as the panelists pointed out. It is the implications of the underlying support of groups like Moms for Liberty in political arenas, where candidates with hidden agendas are getting elected to local government positions – school boards, town councils, county councils.
But the panelists tried to avoid complete doom and gloom scenarios.
“Because you are here, there is hope,” one of them noted, but with a warning. “You have to stay vigilant. You have to attend meetings … and that may not be easy because sometimes local politics just aren’t interesting except for the hot issues.”
And that was what was considered a “silver lining” for the afternoon.
Beaufort County’s ‘street cred’ growing in Legislature
COLUMBIA – With the 2022 elections behind us, the legislators in Columbia are getting organized to go back to work next month and Beaufort County’s “street cred” is definitely on the rise.
Just this past week, state Rep. Shannon Erickson, R-District 124, was appointed by the Speaker of the House to the powerful House Education and Public Works Committee.
Erickson, teacher and director of a private child care center in Beaufort, is the delegation’s senior member with 15 years in the Legislature, unless you count state Sen. Chip Campsen of Charleston, who added parts of northern Beaufort County to his District 43 in the most recent redistricting. Campsen served in the state House for eight years before moving into the Senate for the past 17 years.
Erickson, as chair of the Education and Public Works Committee, is expected to face a very busy session working with a new state Superintendent Ellen Weaver, a fellow Republican who’s already talking about subjects like book bans and critical race theory curriculum, subjects near and dear to the voters’ hearts.
Then we have Rep. Weston Newton, R-District 120, who will head the House Judiciary Committee where he served as a member for the past 10 years of his service.
Rep. Jeff Bradley, R-District 123 of Hilton Head, is chair of the House Regulations and Administration Procedures Committee while Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-District 118 of Bluffton, is 2nd Vice Chair of the Ways and Means Committee.
Rep. Michael Rivers, D-District 121 of St. Helena Island, is the only Democrat on the local state delegation, and he’ll be serving as a member of Erickson’s Education and Public Works Committee.
On the Senate side, state Sen. Tom Davis, a Republican who now serves District 46 which is south of the Broad River and parts of Jasper, remains the Chair of the Senate Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee while Campsen is chair of the Senate Fish, Game and Forestry Committee.
It will be interesting to see how these leadership appointments play out for Beaufort County.
For those interested in trying to follow along, an interesting free mobile app is SC Legislature where you can key in what areas of interest you would like to monitor. Good luck.
Lolita Huckaby Watson is a community volunteer and newspaper columnist. In her former role as a reporter with The Beaufort Gazette, The Savannah Morning News, Bluffton Today and Beaufort Today, she prided herself in trying to stay neutral and unbiased. As a columnist, these are her opinions. Her goal is to be factual but opinionated, based on her own observations. Feel free to contact her at bftbay@gmail.com.
