Memphis High School Considers Addition Of George Floyd Biography To School Library After Presentation By Authors

Image Credit: Memphis-Shelby County Schools & cbu.edu

The Tennessee Conservative Staff –

Students at one Memphis area high school attended a presentation from the authors of a book about George Floyd, the Minneapolis man who died during an arrest in May 2020.

Memphis’ Whitehaven High School hosted Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa, journalists and authors of His Name is George Floyd. 

According to the authors, they were given strict instructions from school officials on what was allowed to make the presentation compliant with Tennessee’s law restricting schools from giving students access to reading material that is not age-appropriate or that is considered obscene.

They were not allowed to read excerpts of the book to students, and no copies were provided to students. They were also told not to get into the topic of systemic racism, a theme that runs throughout the book.

The program was sponsored by Memphis Reads, a local organization run by Christian Brothers University and other community groups.

Although Memphis-Shelby County Schools officials say that the account given by the authors is not accurate, Justin Brooks – CBU community engagement director and head of Memphis Reads – says they were “under the instruction of MSCS leadership when completing the formatting and regulations concerning the Age-Appropriate Materials Act.”

An email from MSCS district communications chief Cathryn Stout was later shared with Chalkbeat Tennessee. Stout said that timing of the event made going through the book-approval process not feasible for the school system. She also added that they were now considering placing the book in the Whitehaven school library for students to access.

Stout also noted that the book was labeled as “adult” by distributor Baker & Taylor and was on the American Library Association’s list of “Notable Books for Adults.” She also stated on social media that the district considered the book to be “adult literature.”

Tennessee lawmakers passed legislation that restricted what public schools can teach regarding race, gender, and bias. Educators who do not follow this law can lose their teaching licenses and districts can be fined. The Age-Appropriate Materials Act also requires that schools publish a list of all library books online and have a review system for books that may not be appropriate.

Brooks said that Christian Brothers made the decision to not allow media to attend the presentation, citing a concern about student safety.