001[Applause] Next, Ms. Nancy Maye would like to come to speak to the board about libraries. Yes. Yes, Nancy Maye would like to come to speak to the board about the libraries. All right, sure. Hi, uh my name is Nancy Maye. Um I'm recently retired as a library media specialist for the Dearborn Public Schools. In fact, the last 13 out of 16 years that I worked here, I was a media specialist at Dearborn Public Schools. And I was directly involved with the Sora coming on board, I was directly involved with developing some of the policies that are currently being tied down right now. In fact, this last year we spent a lot of time working on this. Um I was also a 3-year I I spent 3 years as the school rep library for the Michigan
002Board of Trustees. And all three of my children have graduated from Dearborn Public Schools. I'm a great believer in the libraries. And I'm a great believer in getting as much information out to kids as possible. But, I would agree that this book does not belong in the library. And it would have been a non-starter had they even just contacted the media specialist and said there is explicit material in here. We have and I will admit that I have made a mistake here and there and I've ordered something and I've gotten it and I went not for this this building, not for my school, not for my kids. Because these kids in my school are my kids. Just like the children that I gave birth to are my kids. And in fact, I have one student
003over here that can probably testify to that that everything I order is for the good of my students. And I hope that I was an expert in picking books out. And also, we do have this challenge process. We've had this challenge process. But the first step in the challenge process is if you notify the media specialist and she opens the book up and there is something that is inappropriate to the age group, she will pull it or he will pull it. I have pulled books without challenges. I've looked at it, someone's turned a book in to me and I'm like, oh, let me flip through the book. Flip through the book. Of course, it's creased open to the part that's inappropriate. I look at it, I go, okay, withdraw and discard the book. Because that's
004what I do is make sure that my kids have got appropriate materials. The book in question does not exist as a physical book on our shelves. And looking at the video that had gone out, if you even look at the Destiny page I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm speaking. I'm speaking. I am speaking. The Destiny record that was indicated in the video did not have a call number, which means that it did not have a physical place on the shelves. So, our Edsel librarian did not choose the book. Again, we have talked about this coming in through the Wayne County Consortium. And they are going to be looking at us being able to look at books and by line item delete. And I think that's wonderful. Ms. Dr. Gruber had mentioned that. I need you to
005wrap up your comments, please. I'm sorry. Okay. Um we look at In a public school, we look at the books in a slightly different way than a public library, making sure the books aligned to our community's needs and wants and we do that. I also want to ask our community members to start talking to the library media specialist, to the administration to stop the slander and defamation of characters of highly qualified teachers. The other matter which Ms. Lane had addressed was some of the banned books that were advocated for by our Edsel Ford librarian were books such as The Great Gatsby, Catcher in the Rye, The Grapes of Wrath, To Kill a Mockingbird and Animal Farm. Books that I have read myself in their entirety. Thank you. I have to ask Thank you so much
006and I'd also like to say to the Edsel principal, thank you for the support of the libraries. Next, Mrs. um Jankovic, Jankoviak. She would like to come to speak to the book book to the board about book bans. Thank you. So, I'm actually going to speak um a former DPS student shared this letter with a teacher. I'm going to do my best to summarize it in the time constraint. I appreciate that. Mhm. They remember finding crude notes and sketches and comments in their locker warning them to stay away from a lesbian friend who wasn't even lesbian. The student continued to carry that fear for their friend mention and for their other Dearborn Public School friends who were gay. Then they reference an article called Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Glass Doors. In this article, Dr. Rudine
007Sims Bishop talks about when someone finds a book and they relate to the protagonist, readers gain a valuable mirror where they can find self self affirmations of their identities. When someone finds a book and they do not relate to the protagonist, readers can gain a valuable mirror. I'm sorry. They gain a window where they can see a perspective different from their own and increase their understanding of others. By allowing children to read books about perspectives different from their own, they gain empathy towards those marginalized identities. By banning the public from reading books including Ma'am, please. You keep interrupting other people during their time. Including their marginalized identities, they can learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued. I'm sorry, I lost my place with the interruption. By banning the public from reading books including
008marginalized identities, those people then learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued in the society in which they are a part of. That same student mentioned that the best books they read as a child and teenager included protagonists with identities and experiences they have never seen represented anywhere in their personal life before. The student said, they didn't necessarily reflect my own identity. They helped me understand complex perspective and experiences. They made me feel less alone. They later mentioned how in 2021, half of the top 10 most banned books and challenged books that were pulled that year were LGBTQIA+ content. Most of them were written by or featured protagonists of people who were of color. This brave student is not alone in this belief. And I want that student to know that I as a
009parent, a resident, a staff member personally support them. I have printed their full statement along with other students and we will be emailing more to you guys about their beliefs on the book bans that people are attempting. By restricting information and discouraging the freedom of thought, censors undermine the primary focus for the functions of education, teaching students how to think for themselves. The question should not be, is this book pushing an agenda? But are the people fighting it, fighting to ban it, pushing their agenda on the public children and young teens? I need to ask you to wrap it up, please. Absolutely. Um I do have their statements printed out as well as an article um from the American Library Association and another one talking about how book banning affects higher education. We want our
010children to succeed. Thank you. No problem. Those who have banned or burned books have never gone down in history as heroes. Thank you. [Applause] Next, Mr. Mr. Mike Hatcham from Dearborn would like to come to speak to the board about uh school education. I remind everyone to please allow the speaker to have their time and do not interrupt. Good evening, board members. Um I'd like to pass out something to you guys, if that's possible. Sure. So, I'm pretty sure this uh paper already is in your hands. I don't know if any of you got to read it, but am I allowed to say what's written in this book? If you could uh Guys, guys, 1 second. Because honestly, this is some pornographic material. And I don't want to be liable if someone is watching this
011and a student or or a mom at home or a dad is sitting and they'll come back say he was reading this on live TV with explicit material. So, I just want your legal consent. We're not lawyers. What was it? I said we're not lawyers. We don't We can't give legal Well, I need your consent then. If If this is Something was mentioned about this earlier that used Excuse me. I didn't interrupt you. The floor is not yours. Just a moment. Judge Judge Judge There was There was a statement I didn't interrupt you. Excuse me, sir. There was a statement earlier Okay. that said um what was on this and it used scientific terms, which I think is appropriate. So, base It was appropriate to speak. So, base in referencing this at this meeting is
012what I'm saying. you're saying we're each busting a load into this bottle. If you don't come, you have to drink it? There was a statement made earlier about the same thing that used scientific terms and I was just trying to give it a But let's face it, this is rated R material. And to the to the people that came up here earlier and saying that we don't have these books in our library, well, guess what? I got this from A T Ford A T Ford Library Media Center with the barcode on it, with the number on it and you're telling me what I just gave you guys and what I just a part of what I read is not in our public schools? Honestly, this goes against everything that I believe in. We're not against
013the LGBT community as some are trying to portray. We're just against trying to groom our kids into something that they're not ready for. When they turn 18, be my guest. They could They could read all the books they want. But if we're going to start grooming them at a young age, I want the Bible in our classrooms, I want the Quran in our classrooms, I want the Torah in our classrooms. So, if you're going to allow me, I will purchase a Quran for every classroom. I will purchase a Bible for every classroom. I will purchase a Torah for every classroom to face these books that are grooming our kids for failure. You just heard our test results. Why are we socially grooming our kids for things that they don't need to be involved in at
014the age of 13? We just need to teach them that we need to get our studies on. We need to do good in math and reading for We I just heard a constitutional uh uh uh a law that that that was by the Supreme Court. Does the Supreme Court allow pornographic material in our school system? So, I don't understand what's the holdback on this? What's What are we trying to do to our kids? That's what I have the issue with. And the next book, you know, Um may I ask you to wrap it up, please? It's called This Book Is Gay. It tells you how to fight with It It tells you how to argue with Christians, how to argue with Muslims, and how to argue with Judaism. So, if we're going to teach our
015kids that, well, guess what? I will personally personally protest this to the highest level of courts. If we need to involve lawyers, so be it. Thank you FOR YOUR COMMENTS. NEXT, MISS LISA I WOULD LIKE TO say real quickly is that uh we are in the process of going through our collections. We've spoken to that. We're working that. It does take time. We are pulling questionable material off and that's what we are in the process of doing. There's right and wrong ways of handling these situations. The right way is to if you find something that you find offensive, you think is an issue, you start a dialogue, you communicate with the board, you communicate with Dr. Maleyko, you communicate with the media specialist. That's how we resolve issues in our country. We have back and
016forth dialogue. We do it respectfully. We do it correctly and we model the appropriate behavior to our children on how to work together to accomplish goals. Next Next we have Miss Lisa Gotdern We who would like to come up. We are working on that. We are working on that. Please sit down. It is not your turn. Hi there. Um First thing I wanted to say is uh I just feel like there's a lot of really good news tonight. Um I really appreciated all of the accolades that were given. I really appreciated everything that those coaches said. Um I just feel like there's a lot of really good news. Um I'm a parent in the district. Four of my children have graduated. I have one still in the uh uh virtual learning program, an eighth grader.
017And I am a full-time student in my second year at Henry Ford. Go Hawks. Wonderful. Um I'm here tonight to respond to something that was said at the last meeting. Ev- everyone knows what it's about. Um And also a bunch of rumors on social media. And I just have really tried to take some of these things off of my phone. I'm not sleeping well at night. I don't I'm not on Facebook anymore, but it was on Instagram and the comments were kind of a dumpster fire and and not in the way maybe people think. Um I have a large family and I've lived most of my life as a very conservative person. Um I've been a parent here in Dearborn uh for over 20 years with this school district. And um in the past if
018I've had a problem with a book and I have had problems with books. Um I've always taken my concerns directly to the teacher. And not once in all of those years, not once has a teacher or a principal brushed aside my concerns. I've I've always had a teacher say to me, "Okay, you're not comfortable with that book. How about this book? Oh, you're not comfortable with this media presentation?" And uh and I have to say earlier in life when my oldest children were very little, I didn't really want them going through sex ed at all. And I had the principal at Snow sit me down, open up the curriculum, show it to me. Um I'm not the most peaceful person in my personal life, but where teachers are concerned, I always tried to be non-combative
019because I felt like their job was really hard. And and I've just found that when I just go directly to teachers, it's always gone very well. So, I'm just saying that as a parent who has had some of these concerns about materials in the books uh in the library. But my kids are older now and I have a slightly different perspective. Um I'm not interested in what another parent thinks is appropriate for my kid to read. I am interested in teachers' opinions because teachers are educated and qualified to oversee book selection. Um And I am beyond tired of listening to people who hold up a book titled This Book Is Gay and raise the specter of pornography and grooming. As a parent of LGTBQ children who have felt marginalized, who do feel when a parent
020stands up and says, "No one should be arguing or no one should know how to argue back." My kids have been in that position. A book like that, yeah, it's probably bombastic, but for kids who feel invisible, for kids who feel marginalized, sometimes these books as Oh, she left. The student that wrote in that long you know message, these books are islands for them, islands of acceptance. They're important. May I ask you to wrap up your comments, please? Yes. Um I just want to say the last thing I want to say is that um instead of going on social media and making these comments, which just feels a lot of rumors, I think there are a lot of people here, myself included, who don't know the entire story. I'd rather hear more from the district.
021It sounds like you're on the case. So, thank you. Thank you FOR YOUR COMMENTS. NEXT, I APOLOGIZE FOR UM mispronouncing the name. Um Naji Almud would like to come to speak to the board about the school education. Apologize for the mispronunciation. No, you you pronounced it perfectly well. Thank you. Actually, as-salamu alaykum. Peace be upon you all. My name is Naji Almud I'm a uh Dearborn resident for more than 40 years, actually, and this is my first time. Um so, forgive me for uh joining a Board of Education meeting. And um unlike a lot of the people here that are parents, I'm not a parent of a student here in the public school systems, but uh I have uh 10 nephews and nieces that are going through the public school systems now. And um when
022we first started the meeting, I I saw the from the superintendent, you know, on this big screen where we want to inspire and we want to educate and uh we want to celebrate our students. And that's something we can all definitely agree on. That's That's awesome. But my question to you guys is um is simple. There's been a lot of talk about what's going on here and there, but if we just cut down to the nitty-gritty, um I'm not going to uh talk about the really explicit stuff because it's kind of embarrassing for me and I know there's some some kids here. But um this book, supposedly that we're talking some of the books, when we're talking about censorship, when we're talking about all of this, in one of the excerpts, it talks about girl-on-girl
023sex and boy-on-boy sex, and there's a graphic illustration of all of the body parts. And then it describes, and again, this is not the really explicit stuff. The anus, although women do not have a prostate gland up their bum, some women like having stuff poked up there, too. I want to ask you guys a question, as you guys are ultimately responsible for our children here. We have them in our school system under your protection for 8 hours a day. And do you honestly think do you honestly really believe in your heart that something like this would be appropriate for them in our school system? And a book, actually I'm not going to I'm not going to dignify this with a book. This is not a book, okay? This is a material, filthy material. Excuse me.
024Um that talks about actually Grindr, and honestly God, I have never heard of Grindr before uh 2 days ago. I had no idea what the heck it was. And to actually have this in our school system, it's really embarrassing. It's really embarrassing. Um and to say that we have 300,000 uh copies, that's fine. But at a minimum, let's at least agree that this kind of stuff should not be within our school system. If parents want to buy that for their children privately and read it and teach it to them, then so be it. But it doesn't belong in our system where we're trying to really educate our children. Thank you guys for your time. Thank you FOR YOUR COMMENTS. NEXT, MR. ALI WOULD YOU PLEASE COME AND LIKE TO COME to speak to the board
025about education? Hello. Hi, guys. Hope you're doing well today. Salaam Alaikum. Uh my name is Ali, and um I don't have any kids, yet. You know, hopefully in the future. Um I do know quite a few kids though, my cousins, um hopefully my my nephews will be going into the Dearborn public school, because I I went through it. It's beautiful. It's awesome. Um but sitting here today and and hearing some of the things you guys are saying, um it contradicting things things that are actually happening, that has happened. Such as pulling books off, saying that we we took off some books, but they're still there. That doesn't make sense to me. You know, certain things where we have to walk in a straight line, no matter how long we've been on the board, there's we
026have it's called self-respect. If you say that something is going to happen, it should happen. You know? I have Stephanie here as as a person that she's she's actually requested to take books off multiple times. And and then someone said that all you have to do is talk to a teacher respectfully, she's done that, and results have not happened. So, maybe because of the topic itself, and I'm not talking about LGBTQ, religion, I'm just talking about the school movement in life. It's it's a little different from when I when I was in high school or in middle school, very different. I'm not opposed to it, but that's something people explore on their own. They they they live life and they find out what they like and what they don't like. I never read weird stuff
027like this, um or not traditional stuff like this in in in high school or middle school. And if I did, funny thing, if I did hear about something like this, every student in that in the school would go to the to the library and open not check it out, then nobody would check it out, but we would all open it to see what's in there. And and and they pick it up, you know? And so it's if if you wouldn't mind your kids, or if you wouldn't mind you seeing this when you were younger, then by all means, say that to everyone. But don't don't say some things and not actually go through with those things, and don't there has to be a a line of legitimacy that where we all have to follow, but
028for some reason, it's like he said, she said, and it's a back-and-forth thing. It doesn't make sense why we just can't be honest and straight with each other, and have people be aggravated or or not happy about why teachers aren't listening, or the board isn't listening, or why why aren't we working on something together? For example, the process we have in place right now for for selecting books. I thought this was a conversation, by the way, it's a back-and-forth thing, apparently it's not. So, I was going to ask you guys some questions and talk about stuff, but but yeah, like the process that's in place right now, what is it? Who's responsible for selecting the books that are coming through? And and also my librarian here, she like she said, well, previous librarian, she said
029that if she didn't like a book, she would pull it. She has the ability to pull it. So, it's up to one person and to pull books off the shelves or not? That doesn't make sense to me. I'm not saying parents um have to choose it, or or teachers have to choose it, or or the board. Definitely someone that's educated, for sure. Um I don't know if all parents are educated, but you know, the ones that say that they are and they can prove it, definitely go for it. The the teachers that have something to say, go for it. But we have to be on the same line. I need you to wrap up your comments. Oh, yeah, thank you so much for you guys' time. I was going to read some stuff off of
030here, like how to argue with with religion, and If you'd like, you're welcome to send the information to the board. That's that's crazy that they're allowing people to read stuff to argue about religion, but religion wasn't a part of school when I was going to school. This is like 10 years ago. I never had religion in school. I just had math, science, social studies, stuff normal stuff, you know, like I don't know, this stuff is just a little alarming, and Thank you for your comments. You know, thank you so much for your time. Hopefully we we learned something today, GUYS. THANK YOU. NEXT, MS. JANE MAZZA WOULD LIKE TO COME TO speak to the board about social media issues, representing the uh Dearborn Federation of Teachers. Hi. Good evening, President McDonald, school board members, and
031Mr. Wall. I'm Jane Mazza, president of the Dearborn Federation of Teachers Local 681. I'm speaking tonight about an issue that's generated much speculation and discussion. A parent at one of the Dearborn high uh excuse me, one of the Dearborn public school high schools, who has addressed this board on numerous occasions, posted a video on social media accusing one of my members of purchasing a book and encouraging children excuse me, students to access this book. When the fact is, the book in question is an e-book from Sora, the Wayne County uh consortium of books. And it was purchased as part of an online tool that included over 5,000 titles that were to be used by all Dearborn public schools to encourage reading. The school board approved this purchase in 2019. When the parent discovered this title,
032where to my knowledge no student has accessed this e-book, instead of contacting administration, decided to make an inflammatory social media post. In my position as union president, I'm often involved in situations that have many viewpoints. So, I'm puzzled as to why this parent chose to embarrass the district and staff instead of contacting the administrator about this title. Uh is she seeking attention, personal gain, or just her 5 minutes of fame? Why would a person go to social media making false statements and instigating a mob rule mentality against our district and our hard-working staff? I don't have an answer for this question, but I will state that I am tired of this bullying behavior toward our hard-working staff by this particular person for her personal gains. This is a prime example of fake news. I'm asking
033the community to research and fact-check before you agree to these outrageous allegations. Thank you. Next, Anne Clark, representing herself, would like to speak to the board about children's safety. The book does exist. It is not a myth. It's not a fallacy. And it has your Edsel Ford information on that. It was in the library for access to everybody. Now, my name is Anne Clark. I have been a 40-year resident of Dearborn. I love Dearborn, and I love the culture, I love everything about it. But when I am finding out what you are allowing, you are our protectors of a very rich resource in this community, our children, and you're dropping the ball and saying, "It doesn't exist. There's nothing here to see. Let's just make it all disappear." I'm sorry, but you've got pornography in
034your school. This is not a book. This is pornography. That would be like having Playboy magazine on every desk. Why not do that? Or why not have, you know, uh have somebody come in and do sex acts in the middle of the room? So, they actually see the performance. Cuz that is what this is. This is nothing but pornography. You know, you want to talk about okay, um PS, a lot of spit Brokeback Mountain style is not a substitute for proper water face lubricant, which you can get free with condoms from a gay bar. Doctors and clinics and by pretty much anywhere Vaseline, baby oil, or oil base. Actually, condoms don't use these as lubes. Is that what you want your children and your grandchildren to see in a book? This book, by the way.
035Also, at the beginning of it, it talks about interpretation of Hebrew text, revision story, Torah, Bible. It's talking about how to go against your religion. I'm sorry, but I'm a Christian. You may be a Muslim. I will never say that well, you need to be a Christian cuz that's the only faith that is out there. No, that's what makes us diverse. And you need to honor your religion like I would honor mine. And then we've got these kind of books in the they're that are basically saying, well, go against that. So, you're putting your kids against the parents. And then also it says, oh, these groups rely on donations. This means you jolly well better stick your hand in your pocket and donate whatever you can. These some charities listed in a helpful numbers and
036websites. So, it's directing them to these websites. Now, one of the things that even the police, he's not here now, they have in their police departments is internet trafficking to protect our children because the internet is where the predators are. This is directing them to the internet where the predators are. I need to ask you to wrap up YOUR COMMENTS, PLEASE. [Applause] AND IF YOU LIKE to have our children be the next victim cuz sex trafficking for children in the United States is at an astronomical high. And it's because of like this that if this is happening. And if we don't protect our children, who will? I'm not saying that they can't have this kind of stuff later down in life. That's their choice as an adult. But these young minds, they're lucky they know,
037well, is my friend going to be happy with me today and not tomorrow. Thank you FOR YOUR COMMENTS. [Applause] NEXT, MS. ASHLEY CLUM WOULD like to speak to the board about book banning. Thank you. I'm a Dearborn resident and mother of two children who attended Dearborn public schools. I'm a strong supporter of Dearborn schools, its staff, teachers, and librarians, and I respect their education, training, and professionalism. I would like to address the board with public comments written by another Dearborn resident and friend who is transgender. They would like their voice heard, but are legitimately concerned that publicly outing themselves at this meeting would open them and their family to harassment. Their words follow. Thank you for this opportunity to comment. I'm concerned by recent attempts to placate extremists by banning books from school libraries. When
038the principal of Edsel Ford talks about weeding out books from the school library, that is a book ban. The American Library Association states that parents have the right to limit their own children's access to books, but not other people's children. Quote, "Censorship by librarians of constitutionally protected speech, whether for protection or for any other reason, violates the First Amendment." Unquote. You are You do not have the floor. Please continue. Thank you. Removing books with LGBT content from school libraries sends a clear message to LGBT kids that they don't belong here, that there's something wrong with them. If having library books about life as queer teen is a threat, how much less do you accept the living, breathing, loving queer teens in your school? Say all you want about diversity and inclusion, but your actions speak
039louder than words. The data on safety and life expectancy for transgender people in the USA make it clear that this is not just a squabble over appropriate books, but rather a public health and safety issue. Research has shown that the rate of suicide attempts doubles for transgender folks who are targets of discrimination, including in the educational context. Do you care more about coddling the overactive imaginations of a few religious extremists, or would you rather prefer that children under your care suffer ostracism or maybe even die? Do you want to send the message that queer and gender non-conforming kids need to hide their true selves from the world, or they'll be thrown out like a book that was deemed too controversial? School ought to be one of the places all kids can count on having support
040from adults. Yet, banning these books sends a clear message that the bullies win. That it's more important to placate extremists than it is to preserve the well-being or even the very lives of children. The Edsel Ford principal stated that a process is being created where parents can provide the library with a list of books their own children are not allowed to read. Do that, but don't reject the entire populations of students just because a few angry parents are worried that books make people gay. Statistics alone tell you that you already have more queer and trans students than you realize. They're here, they're queer, and they deserve to be welcomed as their truest selves, not thrown out like a controversial library book. Thank you for your time. Thank you FOR YOUR COMMENTS. NEXT, MR. DAVID SWAN
041WOULD like to come to speak to the board. Hi, I've only uh lived in Dearborn about 43, 44 years, but I've got kids and grandkids. Um You say public good in terms of allowing the kids to read these hundred thousand some titles. Clearly, well, the children are minors. We are obligated to protect them. We are obligated to teach them proper values and ethics. Um So, it really isn't the public good at that point. And people saying that these people are extremists and hate I haven't heard anybody protest these books from the standpoint of any of those personal life sexual choices, but protested for the content. Pornography content, the crudeness, the grossness. And if you've only picked a hundred thousand books, you have censored. You have set up a priority of what books you choose to
042pick. There's certainly better books that you can pick that would explain to people how others feel, not how to satisfy and gratify them sexually. Um A There must be a bias in the choice if if something like this is getting through. And there are lots of titles out there over a hundred thousand, so somewhere it's been prioritized and refined. Um And then like I said, you can teach differences without having to go into the gra- the crude detail. Um That's it. Thank you. Thank you FOR YOUR COMMENTS. NEXT, MS. MARY KATE KUBANEK would like to come to speak to the board about censorship. Good evening. I teach high school, so I'm not used to people paying attention and looking at me when I talk, so if you look really distracted, that would be great. Um
043I've lived in Dearborn for 55 years. My three children have gone through Dearborn public schools, and I have been teaching language arts and AP classes for 14 years. Um anyone who spends their lives working with both books and students knows that more than anything else, reading teaches empathy. Reading about the struggles that others go through, be they fictional or not, reading about their thoughts and feelings as they experience those struggles, those stories teach readers about how very much alike we are as human beings despite our differences. The suppression of those stories and struggles and the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society. And that suppression turns into a weapon. When we focus on eliminating the stories and struggles of specific groups of people, such as our LGBTQ students or our BIPOC students, it
044is just as important for students to see themselves in what they read as it is for students to learn about others when they read. We cannot silence the voices of our most vulnerable students. Parents and guardians, as always, absolutely have the right to determine what their child may or may not read, but they do not have that right for anyone else's children. Uh Lende Hoff is a law professor at the University of Michigan. He teaches courses in the First Amendment. This was in the Free Press by him this week. The greatest evil of book banning is not that it's pointless, although it is. It's not that it usually rests on ignorance, although it does. It's not that it's dishonest about its motives, although there's plenty of that. And it's not that it offends the principle
045of free expression, although its tyranny does indeed make a mockery of liberty. The greatest evil of book banning is that it has the potential to stunt the empathic development of young people. I know Dearborn Public Schools is not advocating for banning books. I know that a review process for books in our schools can be a reasonable tool. But to remove books based solely on the viewpoints of individuals is the first step towards book banning. Our community is strong because of its diversity and because we recognize and appreciate differences. What if someone objects to a book on Islam or Christianity because it doesn't align with their views? We will have failed as a community if we let our children grow up to be adults who hate those different from them so much that they want them
046to disappear. Thank you for your comments. The last blue card that we have is from Ms. Amira Said, who would like to come to speak to the board about truth about reading. Hello. Um I've timed it and well under 3 minutes, I think. Uh I want to stress that the book we're saying is not on the shelf is the one with the titillating headline, catching, uh with the catchy title This Book Is Gay. The book that they're holding up currently is not what was blasted all over the internet because it doesn't have as uh flashy a title. Um the cursing and the quoting of explicit content in this meeting is hypocritical to like a mind-boggling degree. You just said that there are kids in the room and here you are quoting some of this stuff.
047If you really wanted to protect kids, you didn't need to quote it, you could just send it to the board. Um now let me start my speech. My name is Amira Said, I'm a teacher in the district, a mother of two DPS students, and a lifelong lover of books. I am here today as a concerned parent and a tired teacher. I want our board and district to continue to take a stand today against groups that have agendas that they are not transparent about. These groups make false claims and are sometimes coordinating efforts nationally to essentially dismantle public schools by exploiting community fears. They have chosen Dearborn for a reason. Okay. [Music] My organization, My Arab Justice, was targeted by people here today claiming I had board members who were promoting sexual grooming of our students.
048Well, surprise, I don't even have a board and we're definitely not grooming children. They have made other false claims and attacks against my colleagues and now they're coming after our brilliant librarians. This is coordinated harassment, this is libel. As an English teacher, I wish my students were reading physical books from our libraries. I have seen librarians get down on their knees at student level to help them find books. Books they have curated that showed black, brown, white faces, and all colors in between. All kids can feel safe at the library. I have had librarians excitedly show me classic books they found translated into Arabic. Every year I ask students how many books they've read, and the number is a whopping zero by the time they reach me in high school and middle school. Uh I
049have personally I have to personally assign high school and middle school students a grade for getting a city library card because many have never visited one in our city. Again, I wish our kids were reading books. But you know what they are reading? Anything and everything on the World Wide Web. First graders who have watched Squid Games with explicit sex scenes. Sixth graders who show me how they bypass school firewalls. I truly cannot stress the horrific things children have admitted to me and other teachers about what they frequently search and access. I am not a Luddite. I am not condemning technology. I am stressing what we are up against as teachers. I am begging parents to work with us as we help develop healthy, literate, critical thinkers who are ready to engage in our democracy.
050I am tired. I came home from a 2-hour staff meeting today and barely had a chance to ask my 5-year-old about his first full day of kindergarten before I ran over here because where I see us heading if we don't stand for truth is a collapsed school system, less librarians, less teachers, and books further collecting dust. I'm almost done, just one more paragraph. I extremely limit screen time in my home. I raise my children with the religious values of Islam, which encourages us to look at the world and wonder and question and read. This is a clear directive in the Quran. Iqra, it says, multiple times. That was clearly given to the prophet. It is my responsibility in my home to imbue my children with our religious values and beliefs. I send my children to
051public school to learn and expand their world. By high school, I need a school district that has prepared them to be challenged in their beliefs, views, and understanding of themselves and others. The devil is not in our libraries. It is in the abandonment of truth. Thank you. Thank you FOR YOUR TIME. [Applause] YOU DON'T WANT TO GET THAT RIGHT. YEAH, YOU NEED TO.