Utah-based writer and teacher Steve Capone, Jr., highlighted the dystopian nature of Utah’s book bans in a letter to The Salt Lake Tribune seeking help regarding the proper procedure for seizing students’ Margaret Atwood books, reporting them to police, and disposing of the contraband books.
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Utah’s extreme approach to book banning feels like something out of a dystopian novel. Recently, Utah became one of the only states in the U.S. to pass legislation permitting statewide book bans. Currently, 13 books have been banned in every public and charter school across the state. The list predominantly comprises books by female authors that tackle topics like sexual assault, substance abuse, and sexuality from a female perspective. Six books on the list are from author Sarah J. Mass, while books from Atwood, Judy Blume, and Rupi Kaur also made the list. Meanwhile, the statewide ban was hailed as a “bright day” for Utah by Republican lawmakers who celebrated its passage with an unhinged book-banning party in which they called for authors to repent and constructed huge poster boards displaying every alleged sexual excerpt from every banned book.
During board meetings to discuss the statewide book bans, members reportedly floated ideas to include a stipulation forcing teachers to burn the banned books because conservatives were scared that students might dig through the dumpsters to get ahold of them. Meanwhile, teachers are left asking what they’re supposed to do when a student comes into school possessing an illegal Atwood book that must be burned lest the mere sight of it causes Republican lawmakers to faint from fear and horror.
Utah teacher asks for clarity on enforcing book bans
Capone wrote a letter the editor of The Salt Lake Tribute as a general plea for help regarding how he and his fellow teachers can ensure “full compliance” with Utah’s book bans. He began the letter with a question: “To which government agency should we teachers report students in possession of pornographic materials (such as Margaret Atwood or Sarah J. Maas’s books) on school property?” Capone expressed fear that these students may be reading illegal books on school grounds or have them hiding in their lockers and backpacks.
Hence, he wanted to know the protocol for searching students, seizing their reading materials, and turning them over to police. He questioned if students found reading Atwood should be reported to their parents for possessing “pornography” on campus or if schools should create a list of students who are not permitted to carry bags in case they “might hide additional contraband.” However, Capone isn’t just concerned about students but also teachers who may be caught reading these books. He questions, “To whom should I report them? Do our police departments yet have Reading Compliance Officers assigned to these cases?” Since the law also requires teachers to “dispose” of the books, he also wanted to know if he should burn the illegal books privately or “in the public square” for spectators to attend.
Capone concludes his letter with his overarching question, “How will we punish our children, and how might we discourage other children from seeking out this banned literature?” While most will recognize the letter as satire, the frightening thing is that Utah could very well reach a point where these kinds of letters are serious. When states in the U.S. have already reached the level of statewide bans, one must ask what’s next. It’s very clear that Reading Compliance Officers, surveillance, arrests, and public book burnings aren’t satire but the legitimate goal of book banners. Utahns are already calling for book burnings and criminal charges against owners of Little Free Libraries, while conservatives in Florida have called the cops on librarians and students for checking out books.
States that are passing legislation regarding book bans are going down a slippery slope because there is no way to enforce full compliance aside from the dystopian measures Capone suggested. What happens when a conservative school official spots a student in school with one of Atwood’s books they purchased on Amazon? What happens when teachers and librarians are threatened with criminal charges if their students possess these banned books? Are these schools going to partake in surveillance and searches and deploy the secret police to catch book readers? Can any Republican lawmakers take a stab at Capone’s questions and provide answers that don’t sound like they come from a fascist manifesto or dystopian novel?
This post was originally published on here
