A worrisome phenomenon is spreading from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Wyoming.

It’s another example of “Back to the Future.” The return of book banning in America is presently underway and few are talking about it.

This time in our history, it’s happening in public school libraries and it’s is on the rise.

It’s no coincidence that this is taking place during the consequential 2022 mid-term election year, where political power currently hangs in the balance.

Regardless of your philosophy of governance, it takes on such a counter-culture atmosphere. Banning books sounds a lot like burning books.

It’s not nearly the same thing, but, it also makes the rational mind wander to The Salem Witch Trials, which took place from February 1692 to May 1693.

The American people agree on very little in these politically charged, divided times.

However, I believe most all reasonable people do agree that sexually explicit books should not be made available in public school libraries for young minds to consume their contents.

An example of this, back in November, the Spotsylvania County Virginia School Board ordered staff to remove all "sexually explicit" books which contained LGBTQ themes.

Supporting my earlier assertion about banning books, sounds a lot like burning books; a member of this Virginia  County Board of Education said this:

"I think we should throw those books in a fire," school board member Rabih Abuismail said during an open public meeting.

One person’s book-banning party is another’s book-burning party.

You don’t have to strain your brain to see where all of this is headed.

Today, it is about banning “sexually explicit” books … tomorrow, it will be about banning or burning other books of anyone’s (with power) choosing.

It’s a slippery, dangerous slope. Once you start this, there’s no end to it.

According to a recent Axios report, the books most in contention at this time regard African-American and LGBTQ issues.

John L Jackson, the Dean of the Annenberg school for communication at the University of Pennsylvania has waded into this conversation.

Jackson believes that the book bans are “a microcosm of the political divisions in the country.”

“It’s almost immaterial what the books are and what’s in them," said Jackson. “It’s all about the readers. It’s all about the folks who are organizing our contemporary political discourse.“

Jackson’s comment is spot-on accurate.

SOURCES: Axios News, Spotsylvania County Virginia Board of Education & John L. Jackson, Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania,

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