Yes, high irony in a Texas school district where a parent is asking that a book about censorship and book burning … be banned from the curriculum.
“Fahrenheit 451” was first published 53 years ago. It’s said to be named for the temperature at which paper burns. In this world no free thought was allowed and books were destroyed by fire.
Two weeks ago at Caney Creek High School, a tenth grade English class was given “Fahrenheit 451” as a reading assignment. But Diana Verm stopped after a few pages. She said she was offended by “the cussing in it and the burning of the Bible.”
Diana complained to her father. She was given an alternate reading assignment, but her dad is pushing the issue. It is ironic in the truest sense that a fictional book on book banning is now the target of a request to remove it from school curriculum.
“With God’s name in vain being in there, that’s the number one reason,” said Diana’s father Alton Verm. “There’s no reason for it being read.”
Holy moley.
Coincidentally, this book was assigned during National Banned Book Week.
Okay, make that even higher irony.
In the complaint filed against the school by Alton Verm, he listed each objected item line by line, complete with individual page numbers. Besides bad language and violence, Verm lists “downgrading Christians” and “talking about our firemen” as reasons the book should be banned. The school committee is expected to meet about the book.
I will not tar all of Texas with this particular fellow’s … mind-bogglingly … yeah, whatever. I’m just amazed that the daughter and the father ever learned to read in the first place, if that’s the level of offense they take at reading material.
(via BD)
I don’t think he does irony. He probably thinks it’s something like bronzy…
Why… is the school board going to even meet over this man’s concerns? Hasn’t this been asked and answered over the years? Tell him to piss off.
Telling constituents to “piss off” is rarely good politics — and that is, of course, what school boards are largely about. If nothing else, though, it would make Mr. Verm a cause celebre for the Evil Conservative Types, which would just raise more fuss.
I’m just waiting for Mr. Verm to claim that another reason to object to the book is because “Michael Moore did a movie adaptation of it” and injecting liberal politics into the schools is unconstitutional …