Claim:
At George Dawson Middle School in Texas, an autobiography co-authored by George Dawson, the grandson of an enslaved person, was banned.
Rating:
False ( About this rating? )
Context:
In 2022, a Texas school district that includes a middle school named after the author flagged a chapter of the book "Life Is So Good," co-written by George Dawson as inappropriate for some age groups. The district allowed the book to be used in class with "teacher-led instruction." Neither the book nor its content were banned.
George Dawson Middle School , named for the grandson of an enslaved person who learned to read at age 98, is said to have banned a book written by the man after whom the school was named. This rumor has appeared in social media posts since 2022, including a Reddit post shared that year with more than 60,000 upvotes.
Totally makes sense
by u/MCKlassik in facepalm
The claim originated in media coverage by major outlets such as CNN , Business Insider and HuffPost . A school district in North Texas that includes George Dawson Middle School allegedly banned the book " Life Is So Good ," cowritten by Dawson, according to the social media posts.
However, it's false to say that either the book or its content was banned. Rather, some portions of its content were flagged as inappropriate for some age groups, and the district stipulated the book must be accompanied by "teacher-led instruction" if it's used in the classroom.
"'Life is So Good,' the book written about the life and legacy of George Dawson, has NOT been banned," Carroll Independent School District said in an email to Snopes on Oct. 8, 2024.
North Texas television news station KDFW-TV first reported on Aug. 24, 2022, that Carroll ISD in Southlake, northwest of Dallas, was reviewing sections of the book "to see if it is appropriate to teach at George Dawson Middle School" after a seventh-grade teacher requested the title to use in class readings.
The autobiography details Dawson's firsthand account of 20th-century America, from "segregation and civil rights, to the wars, presidents, and defining moments in history," as described by Goodreads . Most notably, Dawson, the grandson of an enslaved person, learned to read at the age of 98.
In an email to Snopes, the school district confirmed that "nothing from the book was banned." Rather, a teacher was "asked to facilitate age-appropriate discussion concerning sensitive content in one chapter of the book."
The school district also confirmed that as of October 2024, the "book is available to read within Dawson Middle School to this day."
Carroll ISD provided this statement from 2022 outlining how Texas school districts determine content for their students. It read:
School districts are governed by policies that oversee curriculum and instructional material content, which define how best to determine age and content appropriateness for students. Recently, there has been some hyper-charged rhetoric in the media about "book banning" and what content is and is not appropriate for students of varying ages.
- Carroll ISD has a policy, EFA (Local) for Instructional Materials, that allows a formal challenge process (i.e. Book Challenge Process) of instructional materials and oversight by the Board of Trustees for those materials that are requested to be purchased.
- With the implementation of local policies, CISD has an internal curriculum review process for the instructional materials requested by our teachers to be used in classrooms. This process reviews all required readings for age and content appropriateness across all subject areas and grade levels. The Curriculum Review of Required Reading process is conducted by a district team during the summer months consisting of teachers, principals, and curriculum coordinators.
It is through these two layers of review by faculty and the Board that provide the appropriateness for our students.
Ahead of the 2022 school year, "Life Is So Good" was reviewed along with other books requested for classroom readings. The district determined that content in one chapter was not appropriate for seventh-grade students, though it did not specify which chapter. Educators were allowed to use the book with "teacher-led instruction" where they can "facilitate the delivery of sensitive content and still convey the message of the author," the school district wrote.
In 2023, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Accountability acknowledged the incident, stating:
One book, Life Is So Good , the true story of George Dawson, the grandson of a slave who learned to read at age 98, and for whom a middle school in the district is named, was identified for review because teachers were concerned they would be reprimanded for teaching it in class.
PEN America , a nonprofit organization that tracks book bans around the U.S., did not include "Life Is So Good" in its most recent index of banned schoolbooks, which covers July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023.
Sources:
"Book Bans." PEN America, https://pen.org/book-bans/ . Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.
Cohen, Rebecca. "A Texas Middle School Named for a Black Author Deemed Parts of His Biography 'not Appropriate' for Students." Business Insider, https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-george-dawson-middle-school-deemed-biography-not-appropriate-2022-8 . Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.
Dawson, George, and Richard Glaubman. Life Is So Good. Random House Publishing Group, 2000.
"District That Named School After Black Author Rules Parts Of His Memoir 'Not Appropriate.'" HuffPost, 25 Aug. 2022, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/school-grands-slave-book-inappropriate_n_6306e160e4b052615d77be93 .
Gamble, Nicole Chavez, Justin. "A North Texas School District Says a Book Chapter by Its Namesake about a Lynching Is Not Appropriate for Some Students." CNN, 25 Aug. 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/25/us/texas-school-george-dawson-book-reaj/index.html .
"Life Is So Good: One Man's Extraordinary Journey Throug…." Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/933231.Life_Is_So_Good . Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.
"PEN America's Index of School Book Bans (July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023)." Google Docs, https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1a6v7R7pidO7TIwRZTIh9T6c0--QNNVufcUUrDcz2GJM/edit?gid=982757372&usp=embed_facebook . Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.
Staff, FOX 4. "Parts of George Dawson's Book Deemed Inappropriate for George Dawson Middle School Students." FOX 4, 24 Aug. 2022, https://www.fox4news.com/news/parts-of-life-is-so-good-by-george-dawson-deemed-inappropriate-for-george-dawson-middle-school-students.
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