Dozens speak on banning books during New Hanover County School Board meeting

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Dozens of people coming out for the New Hanover County School Board meeting on Tuesday night to voice their concerns on book banning and book selection.

During its regular meeting, the school board held two separate call-to-the-audience sessions. The first was for general comments and the second was for comments regarding book banning and book selection. However, the topic of banning books dominated both sessions.

The discussion comes after a complaint was filed by a parent about the book “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You,” which led to the board deciding to hold a hearing on potentially banning the book.

Parents, students, district staff, teachers, and members of the community shared their comments with the board.

Among the speakers was 10th grader Hazel Eyles. She says banning books is not helpful for her education.

“I believe that I should be able to read what I want and learn about the world around me and by banning books we’re kind of taking away different parts of our community…this is where we live and this is what’s happening. To shut it out and say it’s not happening kind of defeats the purpose and no change would really happen in general if we just ignored problems,” Eyles said.

Aubrey Tuell also spoke, sharing her concerns about the curriculum surrounding the book.

“Seeing this completely one-sided, anti-American literature and no dissenting viewpoints was very alarming,” Tuell said. “The best way to get an education is by evaluating different viewpoints and finding the positives and negatives in each one. It alarmed me to see there was only one viewpoint being pushed in this AP class.”

Before the meeting began, a “Let Freedom Read” Rally hosted by the New Hanover County Democratic Party was held outside. Hundreds of people who opposed banning books carried signs and wore t-shirts with phrases like, “Cowards ban books!” and “Ban Ignorance, Not Books.”