Tennessee School Board Receiving Hundreds Of Threatening Calls A Day Over Maus “Ban”

Photo Credit: Hubert Bouccara / Facebook

The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

According to Athens resident Larry Eaton, McMinn County school board is receiving between 300-400 phone calls a day over the perceived banning of a graphic novel previously used to teach the Holocaust in eighth grade. Almost all of these calls are originating from out of the school district, and the majority of them are threatening calls.

The school board members of McMinn County could not have imagined the intensity of the outrage that would ensue after their January 10th vote on whether ‘Maus’ should be removed from the eighth grade language arts curriculum. Board members voted 10-0 to remove it during a meeting that was called to discuss the book after parents objected to the profanity and nudity it contained. They felt it was inappropriate for middle school students to read words in a book meant to be educational, for which they would face discipline if heard using at school.

Speaking to The Tennessee Conservative yesterday, Eaton said that the graphic novel had been taught to teach the Holocaust with both seventh and eighth graders and was being considered for sixth grade also. 

*** Click Here to Support Conservative Journalism in Tennessee. We can’t cover stories like this without your support!***

Mainstream media has been reporting widely on the decision, universally categorizing it as a “ban” on the book. Whoopi Goldberg of The View is one of the latest celebrities to comment on McMinn County’s perceived anti-semitism earning herself a slap on the wrist, a two week suspension, for saying that the Holocaust was not about race at all, and describing the Nazi genocide of European Jews as merely “white people” fighting each other.

Eaton said, “The book [Maus] was never banned.” He confirmed that it is still available in school libraries to be checked out by students.

A statement issued last month by the board’s secretary reads:

“The McMinn County Board of Education voted to remove the graphic novel ‘Maus’ from McMinn County Schools because of its unnecessary use of profanity and nudity and its depiction of violence and suicide. Taken as a whole, the board felt this work was simply too adult-oriented for use in our schools.

We do not diminish the value of ‘Maus’ as an impactful and meaningful piece of literature, nor do we dispute the importance of teaching our children the historical and moral lessons and realities of the Holocaust. To the contrary, we have asked our administrators to find other works that accomplish the same educational goals in a more age-appropriate fashion.

The atrocities of the Holocaust were shameful beyond description, and we all have an obligation to ensure that younger generations learn of its horrors to ensure that such an event is never repeated.”

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.