American poet Amanda Gorman, who recited a poem during the Inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden, is pushing back against one Miami-Dade school after board member who restricted access to her writings. This came after a parent complained.
Gorman, the author of the poem "The Hill We Climb," tweeted she was 'gutted' by her piece being restricted by ECPS.
A parent of two children who attend Bob Graham Education Center, a K-8 school in Miami Lakes, filed the complaint which resulted in the book's removal from elementary-level access.
The parent’s complaint, which incorrectly names Oprah Winfrey as the publisher, alleged that the material is "not educational" and has indirect hate messages. It also alleges that the poem "causes confusion" and "indoctrinates students."
Gorman blasted ECPS for restricting the poem, expressing on Twitter that she is "gutted" by the move.
"I’m gutted. Because of one parent’s complaint, my inaugural poem, The Hill We Climb, has been banned from an elementary school in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
Gorman goes on to say that book bans are not "new" and cited the American Literature Association’s study that reported 40 percent more books were challenged in 2022 than the year before.
"What’s more often all it takes to remove these works from our libraries and schools is a single objection. And let’s be clear, most of the forbidden works are by authors who have struggled for generations to get on bookshelves. The majority of these censored works are by queer and non-White voices."
Miami-Dade County Public Schools sent Fox News Digital's statement.
"No literature (books or poem) has been banned or removed. It was determined at the school that 'The Hill We Climb' is better suited for middle school students and, it was shelved in the middle school section of the media center. The book remains available in the media center."
Gorman’s tweet comes after Penguin Random House filed a lawsuit against ECPS over their decision to ban several books, claiming it is a violation of First Amendment rights.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of book publisher Penguin Random House and PEN America Center, Inc., a group that champions free speech, and two parents of students attending ECPS. They are challenging the decisions of the school district and the Escambia County School Board to remove and restrict books from libraries.
The lawsuit comes after Florida Gov. Ron Desantis’ pushed his education law that prohibits school employees or third parties from giving classroom instruction on "sexual orientation" or "gender identity" in all grades in K-3 but was recently extended to include all grades.
PEN America recently published a report that showed that nearly 1,500 books were banned in the first half of the 2022-2023 school year. According to PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans lists, there were 1,477 instances of individual books banned during the first half of the 2022-23 school year.
PEN America recorded more book bans during the fall 2022 semester than in each of the prior two semesters.
