NYT: Palin Proposed Ban on Pro-Gay Public Library Book
Sunday September 14, 2008
According to a disturbing article in this morning's New York Times, then-city councilwoman Sarah Palin advocated banning Michael Wilhoite's Daddy's Roommate (1991), a children's book depicting a gay couple in a positive, non-sexual context. But Palin would have had no way of knowing that the content was non-sexual, because she didn't actually want to read it before taking it off the shelves of the local public library:
Related: Sarah Palin on Civil Liberties | Free Speech Issues
The new mayor also tended carefully to her evangelical base. She appointed a pastor to the town planning board. And she began to eye the library. For years, social conservatives had pressed the library director to remove books they considered immoral ...Shortly after she was elected mayor, in January 1997, Palin fired longtime library director Mary Ellen Emmons for "not fully supporting her efforts to govern." According to numerous media accounts, the specific reason Emmons was fired was because she refused to support Palin's efforts to ban books. (Emmons was later reinstated after Wasilla residents organized and protested the firing--a testament to the power of community organizing.)
[I]n 1995, Ms. Palin, then a city councilwoman, told colleagues that she had noticed the book ''Daddy's Roommate'' on the shelves and that it did not belong there, according to [future Palin campaign director Laura] Chase and [former Wasilla mayor John] Stein. Ms. Chase read the book, which helps children understand homosexuality, and said it was inoffensive; she suggested that Ms. Palin read it.
'Sarah said she didn't need to read that stuff,' Ms. Chase said. ''It was disturbing that someone would be willing to remove a book from the library and she didn't even read it.''
Related: Sarah Palin on Civil Liberties | Free Speech Issues
Comments
Hi, Tom, I just read the page of the NYT article that you reference:
(1) I disagree with banning books
(2) I understand politicians who want to cater to voters who want to ban books, I just disagree with it and them
(3) But there is NOTHING in the NYT article about PALIN CALLING TO BAN THE BOOK. There is a publicly expressed opinion that “it doesn’t belong” … which is a long step away from banning. There is no motion before the city council to ban the book.
:-/
I provided a direct quote, and I think what the article says is quite clear.
We can split hairs on when a statement by a city councilperson that a book should be removed from the library constitutes a serious proposal to remove the book from the library, but given the direct quote from Chase to the effect that this was a serious proposal, alongside the corroborating data we have with respect to Palin pressuring Emmons to remove books, it seems safe to conclude that she really was trying to get rid of it.
Sarah Palin the vice residential candidate for Republican party is a social conservative. So many comments has been passed on her. But one thing we must bear in mind that a presidential or a vice presidential candidate should be Patriotic in first place and must have a clean public image.
Thanks
From the Classic Lit Guide:
“A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict material. A book ban goes even further–the work is removed from the classroom or library circulation.”
From the NYT Article:
“But in 1995, Ms. Palin, then a city councilwoman, told colleagues that she had noticed the book “Daddy’s Roommate” on the shelves and that it did not belong there…”
At the _most_ this might be a challenge.
What does “told colleagues” mean? Was this over coffee? Did she say it once … or dozens of times?
Did she bring this up in a city council meeting as an agenda item? If so, then yes, it’s a challenge — and it might have been a proposed ban. (”Doesn’t belong there” is not the same thing as “remove that book.”)
I’d argue that Palin’s statement is not even a challenge if she did not bring this up for formal discussion. And there is nothing in the NYT article that says this statement of hers was anything other than conversation.
I’d go so far as to say if this had been an agenda item, a proposed ban, the NYT reporter would have made that very clear.
Sarah Palin the vice Presidential candidate for Republican party is a social conservative. So many comments has been passed on her. But one thing we must bear in mind that a presidential or a vice presidential candidate should be Patriotic in first place and must have a clean public image.
Thanks