America, America. What the actual fuck are you doing? Book banning is not a new atrocity. But it’s turning out to be an unfortunately persistent one. And, lately, an increasingly frequent one. While some neoliberals can’t stop wringing their hands in the pages of the NYT about the so-called scourge of cancel culture on college campuses, they remain demonstratively silent about real canceling happening in our culture.
So as Florida Gov. DeSantis preps today to announce his presidential run (I know, gross), know that his state has just BANNED the poem read at President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021 from an elementary school in Miami-Dade County. Poet Amanda Gorman’s beautiful words of hope and democracy were banned because of one parent’s objection, which is a thing that now happens in Florida, The U.S.A. So, as voters gear up to mark their ballots, think hard about what Making America Florida (like, I cannot shudder hard enough) really means.
Books. Banned. Abortion. Banned. Drag. Banned. Saying Gay. Banned. Teaching about race. Banned. Trans health care, youth sports, bathroom access and general existence. Banned.
Now, guns on the other hand? Well, Florida Man signed an open carry law and the state is already Stand Your Ground heaven.
Look, everyone who loves guns more than books, LGBTQ+ people, drag queens, people of color, reproductive health care and the accurate teaching of history is welcome to have the Sunshine State. Everyone else, let’s help start a great migration to states that don’t have fascist wannabe presidential contenders doing everything in their power to make life worse for the rest of us. Climate change is gonna turn that state into an archipelago (if it's lucky...) soon enough.
