(DCWatchdog.com) – A school district in Texas has removed from its library the Holy Bible, Anne Frank’s Diary, and other books deemed “controversial” because of how they “examine” the issues of “race and gender.”
Keller Independent School District in Central Texas, near Fort Worth, has removed 41 books from being accessible to students.
The step was taken last week in anticipation of new policies adopted by district officials, Newsmax reported.
“Right now, Keller ISD’s administration is asking our campus staff and librarians to review books that were challenged last year to determine if they meet the requirements of the new policy,” the district said in a statement.
“All of the books included in Tuesday’s email have been included on Keller ISD’s Book Challenge list over the past year,” it added in the statement sent in an email to school officials.
The “Book Challenge” list features books dealing with race or gender issues.
At first, the books in question were unconditionally flagged for removal. However, now a new policy approved by Keller school trustees allows some of the “challenged” books to be assessed anew by a panel of parents and community members.
“Books that meet the new guidelines will be returned to the libraries as soon as it is confirmed they comply with the new policy,” the statement continued.
A spokesperson noted that objections to “books or instruction materials” can be filed by parents, employees, or residents of the district.
The Holy Bible and an adaptation of the Diary of Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who perished in the Nazi death camps of the Holocaust during the Second World War, were objected to.
The alleged censorship of Anne Frank’s works by the Keller School District in Texas has spurred an indignant reaction on the part of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
“Anne Frank is among the most well-known of the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust,” the museum wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
It did not mention explicitly the controversial policy leading to the removal of books such as Anne Frank’s Diary and the Holy Bible from a student library because of how they handle the issues of “race and gender.”
A Texas-based school district has started removing so-called controversial books from its library shelves that examining race and gender. https://t.co/nh0tbZ7Ot1
— Newsmax (@newsmax) August 17, 2022
