Censorship in Children's Literature: Home

The American Library Association opposes widespread efforts to censor books in U.S. schools and libraries. Link provides access to the full statement.

Education in a democratic society requires developing citizens who can adapt to changing times, make decisions about social issues, and effectively judge the performance of public officials. In fulfilling their responsibilities, public schools must not only provide knowledge of many subject areas and essential skills, but must also educate students on core American values such as fairness, equality, justice, respect for others, and the right to dissent.

It critiques how the social construction of race and institutionalized racism perpetuate a racial caste system that relegates people of color to the bottom tiers. CRT also recognizes that race intersects with other identities, including sexuality, gender identity, and others. CRT recognizes that racism is not a bygone relic of the past. Instead, it acknowledges that the legacy of slavery, segregation, and the imposition of second-class citizenship on Black Americans and other people of color continue to permeate the social fabric of this nation.

Critical race theory (CRT) is based on the premise that race is a social construct and that race-based belief systems are visible in all parts of our social life. With regard to children and childhood, although there is work that takes up anti-racist and anti-bias approaches to pedagogy, and children's play for example, very little attention has been paid to CRT by people working in the area of early childhood; however, CRT has been taken up more widely by education scholars and teachers in the field of K–12 (kindergarten through completion of secondary school) education. This entry examines the history of CRT and outlines some key tenets of CRT with an eye to early childhood. Because this theory began in the United States, much of what is discussed in this entry is U.S. based; however, there are CRT scholars working elsewhere (e.g., in the United Kingdom and Canada).

In the battle over the false idea that Critical Race Theory is “infiltrating” our K-12 schools—and the belief that it must be stopped—the new frontier is children's literature. Blog post from the Anti-Defamation League.