“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,” the school district said in a statement, according to NBC News.

Amanda Gorman called out the school district for downplaying this decision.

“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,” she wrote. “I wrote The Hill We Climb so that all young people could see themselves in a historical moment. Ever since, I’ve received countless letters and videos by children inspired by The Hill We Climb to write their own poems. Robbing children of the chance to find their voice in literature is a violation of their right to free thought and free speech.”

These are the pages of my inaugural poem that an objecting parent cited as "not educational and have indirectly hate messages". And now because of that one complaint, my poem is now banned for elementary school students at a school in @MiamiDadeCounty. https://t.co/x7R4mXk8BL

— Amanda Gorman (@TheAmandaGorman) May 23, 2023

Gorman is suing Florida’s Escambia County alongside the publishing house Penguin Random House, PEN America, several authors and community members. They are citing the ban as a violation of freedom of speech.

In March, the parent behind the ban called for several books alongside Gorman’s to be banned. Daily Salinas cited The ABCs of Black History, Cuban Kids, Countries in the News: Cuba and Love to Langston for including “indirect hate messages.” The books were moved to the middle school section except for Countries in the News: Cuba, and despite The ABCs of Black History being written for ages 5 and up, reported the Miami Herald.

Salinas told the news outlet she thinks the books should have been removed for all students. 

This is the one parent who successfully got Amanda Gorman’s poem banned. Will the Miami-Dade school district reverse this decision now that it’s surfaced that parent as ties to a white supremacist organization? Or does the comfort of a white supremacist matter more? https://t.co/aat6k4injI

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) May 23, 2023

Hundreds of books have been banned across Florida in recent months. As of March, 175 books have been removed across the state, according to PEN America and as reported by the Miami Herald. Books that include topics of race, racism, gender and sexuality appear to be the main targets of censorship.

“We’re seeing these topics pushed [away] from our kids at a time when they’re most accepting of our differences,” Stephana Ferrell, the director of research and insight at Florida Freedom to Read Project, told the Miami Herald. “This is the time to address the rougher topics in an age-appropriate way. Instead, those books are not available to them.”

 

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The ban comes as Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed several bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community and people of color. The “Don’t Say Gay” bill prohibits school personnel from mentioning issues relating to gender identity or sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade. In 2021, the state banned critical race theory from public school classrooms.

The NAACP has recently issued a travel advisory for Black people who may consider visiting Florida, citing hostility against people of color and the LGBTQ+ community. Republican senator and former Florida governor Rick Scott has also issued a formal travel advisory for “socialists and those who work in the Biden administration.”