SHELVING FREEDOM: WHAT NEVADA STANDS TO LOSE IF IT STARTS ENACTING BOOK BANS; Las Vegas Weekly, October 17, 2024

Amber Sampson , Las Vegas Weekly; SHELVING FREEDOM: WHAT NEVADA STANDS TO LOSE IF IT STARTS ENACTING BOOK BANS

"With tensions mounting so close to home, some have wondered if Nevada might start banning books next. Alexander Marks, director of strategy for the Nevada State Education Association, says it’s highly unlikely.

“I think the right people are getting into trusteeships. The right people are getting into the Legislature. These are not issues that are on the tops of a lot of parents’ minds,” says Marks. “A lot of times, this is just certain politicians or parent groups trying to distract or fuel fear. They’re the Moms for Liberty folks just intent on dividing citizens by challenging books that represent marginalized and oppressed peoples.

“But when it comes down to it, when folks are casting their votes, that’s not where Nevada citizens are at.”

Nevada remains one of the few states in the country currently without a book ban, but there are efforts in place. Moms for Liberty, a political group that gained traction during the pandemic, has adamantly fought to ban books. Two CCSD school board candidates—Lorena Biassotti and Lydia Dominguez—were once tied to a local chapter of Moms for Liberty but have since distanced themselves.

In the last year, Washoe County in Northern Nevada has been the target of an aggressive number of book challenges, facing off against anti-LGBTQ activists, religious leaders and parents—all in the vocal minority. 

“Do parents have the right to monitor and select or disagree with certain materials? Of course they do,” Marks says. “But it’s inappropriate for them to do that for everybody and everyone else’s kids.

“There are a lot of dangerous attempts to stoke fears, rewrite history, diminish folks’ stories, whitewash injustices, and that prevents educators from challenging our students to live in a more equitable society,” he continues.

Much is at stake when it comes to banning the voices of our communities. For one, you’re silencing “a whole demographic,” Luster says, and dooming future generations to repeat the mistakes of our forebears. Children also run the risk of losing quality education. And by denying students access to different worlds, cultures and stories, they’re in danger of losing much more than that."