by
Anna
Moneymaker/Getty
Images)
There’s
been
some
friendly
fire
in
the
new
Administration’s
rush
to
scrub
anything
that
doesn’t
glorify
wealthy
white
males
from
publicly
funded
classroom
curricula.
An
article
on
Pen.org
reported
on
the
Department
of
Defense
recently
compiling
a
list
of
books
that
are
too
“woke”
for
military
families.
There
are
some
expected
names
—
can’t
have
the
children
realize
that
our
American
life
has
a
lot
of
parallels
with
Brave
New
World
if
they
aren’t
allowed
to
read
it.
But
there
are
a
couple
of
titles
that
are
head-tilters.
One
book
titled
“Freckleface
Strawberry”
(affiliate
link),
a
self-worth
story
tailored
to
ginger
children,
was
deemed
offending.
As
was
another
book,
JD
Vance’s
“Hillbilly
Elegy”
(affiliate
link).
JD
Vance’s
book
has
been
banned
from
DOD
schools.
I’m
interested
to
see
how
this
story
plays
out.
#BannedBooks
#FreedomToRead
https://t.co/9BkwjwWDPD—
Dr.
Brian
H.
Williams
(@BHWilliamsMD)
February
19,
2025
I’ve
no
clue
why
this
book
was
banned.
Unless
being
poor,
white,
and
Appalachian
is
the
new
Black
(it
isn’t),
my
assumption
would
be
that
it
got
nicked
from
the
permitted-to-read
list
because
it
used
the
words
“family,”
“crisis,”
and
“elegy”
in
the
title.
Seems
a
little
heavy
handed
and
obvious
to
posit
that
a
book
banning
would
have
anti-intellectual
undertones,
but
I’m
guessing
that
the
word
“elegy”
alone
is
enough
of
a
two-dollar
word
to
get
our
censoring
overlords
to
squint
at
a
title.
Vance’s
book
isn’t
the
only
book
lawyers
with
children
may
recognize
on
the
nix
list:
“No
Truth
Without
Ruth”
by
Kathleen
Krull
(affiliate
link)
also
got
tripped
up
in
the
censorship.
I’m
usually
not
quiet
about
how
cringey
and
out
of
cultural
touch
it
was
to
moniker
the
late
jurist
after
a
rapper
who
—
despite
his
way
with
words
—
had
no
chance
in
hell
of
ever
clerking
for
her,
but
having
a
children’s
picture
book
about
your
life
classified
as
too
much
for
even
military
brats
is
pretty
Notorious.
For
now,
it
seems
like
the
only
things
penned
by
JD
Vance
military
families
will
be
able
to
read
is
him
regurgitating
Fox
talking
points
about
how
the
Judiciary
should
eat
crow
whenever
the
Executive
does
something
unconstitutional.
God
help
us
all.
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
cannot
swim, a
published
author
on
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected] and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.