Navy veteran: The reason I can't stay silent on book censorship in schools

On Sept. 11, 2001, I was aboard USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT, preparing for deployment eight days hence. Until that day my Navy career had been a peacetime career, with deployments focused on freedom of navigation, keeping sea lanes open, and maintaining forward presence. That morning, however, nineteen men - dedicated to a cause where education was the enemy and women and girls were denied even school attendance – attacked the heart of America. I spent the following decade of my naval career fighting religious fascism.

Never did I think for a second that I’d have to worry about a creeping religious fascism at home.

I grew up struggling in rural South Carolina, raised by a single mother. It was during these incredibly challenging times that I found freedom in reading. My mother did everything she could to support my love for literature—even paying in installments for the volumes of books I devoured by the week, starting with the first Christmas present I remember – the 1961 “World Book Encyclopedia” set.  It was these long days in the library, spent learning about history, culture, and leaping into fantastic fictional worlds, that I credit for my academic success in school.

More on censorship: Harry Potter among books that have been challenged in Palm Beach County Schools

But I didn’t do it alone—I was mentored by a legion of librarians and educators who guided me through my literary journey. Back then, parents trusted professionaleducators and librarians to do their jobs. Now, a vocal minority are working to sowdistrust in these hard-working professionals. As a parent of a high school student on the verge of adulthood, I couldn’t be more furious.

Earlier this year, I attended a school board meeting after learning that books by Jodi Picoult and Toni Morrison (to name a few) had been removed following a complaint by an activist who had not even read them. I was shocked to see these important literary works, central pieces of school curriculums and libraries for decades, punished for the sole crime of addressing the subjects of race and discrimination.

What is going on in Florida – and across the nation – concerning faux concerns of‘pornography’, the ‘trans menace’, abortion, and all the rest is nothing more than an embodiment of fascism. Will it be forbidden to teach about the Theory of Evolution because it offends?  Will teachers be forbidden to teach about the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 or the Little Rock Nine because the truth offends the delicate sensibilities of a miniscule, misguided minority?

Two hundred forty-six years ago, our country was founded in opposition to censorship and with the assurance of guaranteed personal freedoms. Every American is afforded by the First Amendment the right to speak on, and hear all sides of, every issue. How have our schools strayed so far as to forget these truths in the very place we teach them?

More on censorship: Were any of these books banned by Palm Beach County schools? Here's what they reviewed and why

I see the way a broad exposure to books changed my life and I want the same for my son. The purpose of school isn’t to shelter students from difficult subjects. It’s to prepare them for the real world and all the realities that come with it — whether they be tragic, confusing, or beautiful. We owe it to our kids to provide them with the tools they need to understand this world, make informed decisions, and empathize with folks from all walks of life. The activists removing books from schools aren’t thinking about literature in this way. They’re thinking only about one thing—politics.I’m not sending my son to school to be force-fed somebody else’s narrow-minded version of the world.

The men on the beaches of Normandy, the boys storming the beaches at Iwo Jima, the men and women of Flight 93 – including Mark Bingham – didn’t sacrifice themselves on the altar of freedom so that fear and hatred could take root here.

It’s time for the state of Florida to start trusting our educators again. These are the people who have dedicated their lives to supporting our children. Our educators are the ones who have been trained to provide appropriate content and to lead sensitive class discussions. It should be experts—not activists—making far-reaching, district-wide decisions like these.

John Wessley “Wess” Rexrode is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and a parent in Martin County. 

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Veteran: Freedom and school book censorship don't go together