Recommended Reading: Identity Politics for Librarians and The Chosen One

This Week's Recommended Reading on Substack: Parker Molloy, Noah Berlatsky, Hemant Mehta, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Phil Lewis, and Judd Legum.

Feb 12, 2023

The Week's Recommended Reading on Substack:

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writes that “it’s the ‘Hey, the state is trying to purge libraries of books that feature LGBTQ people or discuss racism!’ variety of speech that's under attack. Seems like the Free Speech Brigade who signed on to the Harper’s Letter would be all about that!”

The Present Age

Free Speech Enthusiast Matt Yglesias Refers to Book Bans as "Identity Politics for Librarians"

Back in 2020, there was a letter published by Harper’s Magazine, titled, “A Letter on Justice and Open Debate.” For those of you lucky enough not to know what I’m referring to, it was a letter signed by a bunch of authors, journalists, and famous-type-people framed as some sort of bold stand for, well, justice and open debate, whatever that means…

2 years ago · 133 likes · 20 comments · Parker Molloy

Noah Berlatsky

writes “Evangelicals, one begins to suspect, don’t support Trump despite their faith. They love him because he and they share the exact same religious commitments.”

Everything Is Horrible

The Chosen One

I published this in 2019 Medium; I think it’s still relevant, so I thought I’d share it with substack readers. If you like my writing, consider becoming a paid contributor so I can keep on keeping on. _____ Evangelical support for Trump is consistently framed not just as a puzzle, but as a contradiction. Trump’s history of raping and sexually assaulting w…

2 years ago · 2 likes · Noah Berlatsky

Hemant Mehta

writes that “Urban Christian Academy in Kansas City, Missouri will be shutting down at the end of the school year all because donors balked when administrators began defending LGBTQ people in the name of Jesus.”

Friendly Atheist

After affirming LGBTQ people, a Christian school lost donors and will shut down

I would appreciate it greatly if you became a full subscriber! You can use the button below to subscribe to Substack or use my usual Patreon page…

2 years ago · 3 likes · 31 comments · Hemant Mehta

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

writes that “Ron DeSantis loves children —especially the ones who take part in the shows he stages for his own glory. Black, White, or Latino, they are all God's creatures to him, and they are all props in the holy war he is waging on their behalf to protect ‘freedom’ in Florida.”

Lucid

Ron DeSantis's Dystopian Vision for America's Youth

Welcome back to Lucid, and hello to all new subscribers! For those on Twitter, I will be live-tweeting President Biden’s State of the Union address tonight as part of CNN’s coverage. Mark your calendars for our next Q&A, Friday, Feb 10, 1-2pmET. Paying subscribers will receive a link to register for the Zoom gathering that morning. These weekly Q&As hav…

2 years ago · 129 likes · 44 comments · Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Phil Lewis

writes that “critics see the updated curriculum as a blatant attempt to suppress African American studies in schools. Whether the changes were at the behest of DeSantis or not, there has been a surging right-wing effort to ban critical race theory in schools nationwide, despite school officials and educators denying they even teach the academic framework.”

What I'm Reading

Inside the battle to preserve African American studies in Florida

In January, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said his administration was going to ban the course from the state’s schools, claiming it “significantly lacks educational value” and that it violated the Stop WOKE Act—legislation he signed into law last year restricting race and gender-related curriculum in schools. Republicans and other …

2 years ago · 15 likes · 1 comment · Phil Lewis

Judd Legum

writes that “Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and the Florida Department of Education have imposed sweeping new restrictions on books in public schools, both in libraries and in classrooms… there is a lot of uncertainty about how this will play out. What books will ultimately be allowed? And which books will be banished from Florida schools?”