Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa (authors of “His Name Is George Floyd”) claimed they were blindsided to learn two days before the Oct. 26 event at Whitehaven High School that they couldn’t read from their book or discuss systemic racism. They believe event organizers imposed the restrictions in conformity with Tennessee legislation prohibiting certain publications in schools.
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Here is a statement from Olorunnipa about the incident:
“It was really disappointing to hear that our speech was going to be limited. Not only for us, but for the students whose access to knowledge is going to shape their journey in this world and in this country.”
While it is unclear who administered the restrictions, Memphis-Shelby County Schools spokeswoman Cathryn Stout blamed the issue on miscommunication. Stout said Memphis-Shelby County Schools did not send any messaging” restricting the authors from reading an excerpt from the book or discussing certain topics. The only difficulty was allowing the school to distribute the book to students during the event, which would require a lengthy review owing to state and district requirements.
Stout said the district was “saddened and disappointed” that the authors “were given misinformation that was said to have come from us.”
Memphis Reads (a community reading initiative at Christian Brothers University in Memphis) arranged the event. Every year, the group selects a book that “engages Memphians in issues that are relative to daily societal topics and themes” and organizes activities in conjunction with the work.
Stout noted that “Memphis Reads apologized for the miscommunication” after the incident.
Whitehaven High School and the Memphis-Shelby County Schools system are predominantly Black. Although the students who attended listened attentively to the authors during the event, Samuels and Olorunnipa stated that they could not thoroughly speak on the book’s ideas and instead focused on sharing their own lives’ details with the teens.
Tennessee is one of several states that have placed limitations on school library materials and what instructors may teach children about race. Samuels and Olorunnipa plan to give Whitehaven students copies of “His Name Is George Floyd” through a local organization outside of campus.
Here is a statement from Samuels upon hearing the restrictions:
“I was thinking about the great disservice that they’re giving these students who deserve better. I thought about my personal disappointment and feelings of naïveté that despite all the work Tolu and I had done to make sure the book would be written in a way that was accessible to them, a larger system decided that they were going to take it away.”
Source: Yahoo