Reader's View: Let parents, not government, decide what books are appropriate

Recently, the Democratic left, such as MSNBC and others, have claimed that Republicans are out to ban books in the U.S. Certain states’ actions regarding so-called school books, to protect children’s innocence, are being compared to the banning of books when Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party in Germany took over the government. The books Hitler banned were those he said were subversive of the ideologies of Nazism. The Nazi regime raided bookstores, libraries, and publishing warehouses for books mostly written by Jewish authors. Books were banned and burned in 1933.

MSNBC interviewed a 100-year-old woman whose husband died in World War II. She stated he died to protect this kind of thing from happening. But there is absolutely no comparing the Nazis and today’s Republican Party and the laws Republicans are proposing. It was her claim that new Florida laws would ban books, which is far from the truth. The book banning we hear about across the U.S. stems from parents attending school board meetings and protesting to their school boards about sexual content in books being made available to young students. The parents do not want their children using books in classrooms intended to teach sexual content, such as books with transgender and LGBTQ content. These books can still be seen at any library. They are not banned at all. Parents feel that public schools should teach our children basic reading, writing, arithmetic, history, and civics, along with physical education.

Schools are encouraging behavior that is not conducive to traditional family values. Schools are going so far as to keep parents from knowing what, exactly, is being taught. These teachings are solely the responsibility between students and parents and should not be left to the government.

Arnold Breitenbach

Pahrump, Nevada

The writer is a summer resident of Superior.