# Scholastic Books wanted writer to remove the word “Racism” from her book’s intro **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 17, 2023, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scholastic-books-wanted-writer-to-remove-the-word-racism-from-her-book-s-intro/982778 "2023-04-17T09:53:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2023, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scholastic-books-wanted-writer-to-remove-the-word-racism-from-her-book-s-intro/982778/1 "2023-04-17T09:53:55Z")
[The full story and their apology is here.](https://www.npr.org/2023/04/15/1169848627/scholastic-childrens-book-racism) Maybe they were hoping to sell a bunch in Florida-allegedly they were concerned teachers might fear reprisals for using it, which is terrible on its own. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2023, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scholastic-books-wanted-writer-to-remove-the-word-racism-from-her-book-s-intro/982778/2 "2023-04-17T10:19:34Z")
Yes, this was a depressing story. In her account, the author sounds so authentic and forthright, and the publisher sounds… just the opposite. As we know, right-wing state authorities are giving schoolbooks particularly intense scrutiny these days, leading educational publishers to turn their texts into pablum. Still, I wonder: Could it be that attempts at neutering text such as this one also routinely arose in, say, the late Seventies, when I was reading Scholastic books, and authors back then simply had no platform by which to announce that they had been censored? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2023, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scholastic-books-wanted-writer-to-remove-the-word-racism-from-her-book-s-intro/982778/3 "2023-04-17T10:35:19Z")
I’m assuming it was difficult to get a book into publication that dealt with real issued back in the 60s and 70s. The one that keeps popping up in my consciousness whenever I think along these lines is The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key, a sci-fi YAish book I read in 4th grade that really nails the narrow-minded hatred and short-sighted provicial attitudes I already knew so well. And send them up nicely, btw. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2023, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scholastic-books-wanted-writer-to-remove-the-word-racism-from-her-book-s-intro/982778/4 "2023-04-17T10:40:47Z")
Here’s a link to [the same story from Publisher’s Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/91982-amplification-or-suppression-author-maggie-tokuda-hall-calls-out-edits-proposed-by-scholastic.html) that gives more details. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2023, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scholastic-books-wanted-writer-to-remove-the-word-racism-from-her-book-s-intro/982778/5 "2023-04-17T11:17:30Z")
So Scholastic started an entire imprint, “Rising Voices Library,” explicitly to “provide students with high-interest texts that celebrate the stories of the historically underrepresented.” But they want to hush up any mention of the elephant in the room – the reason why those groups have been underrepresented! Cynical whitewashing. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2023, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scholastic-books-wanted-writer-to-remove-the-word-racism-from-her-book-s-intro/982778/6 "2023-04-17T11:42:11Z")
> [@Chad\_Sudan](#): > > the publisher sounds… just the opposite. I can actually see the publisher’s point, when they say > [@](#): > > However, our audience is comprised of elementary school-aged children and there are some details in the Author’s Note that, although eloquently stated, are too strongly worded for what most teachers would expect to share with their students. This could lead to teachers declining to use the book, which would be a shame. The part they want to remove does strike me as awfully political for an elementary-grade children’s book and could easily narrow its audience. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2023, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scholastic-books-wanted-writer-to-remove-the-word-racism-from-her-book-s-intro/982778/7 "2023-04-17T11:48:50Z")
Sure, there’s room to adjust the precise wording – but according to the author’s blog, what the publisher wanted was that “the word ‘racism’ would be removed from the author’s note altogether.” > **[Scholastic, and a Faustian Bargain — Pretty Ok Maggie](https://www.prettyokmaggie.com/blog/2023/4/11/scholastic-and-a-faustian-bargain)** > > Recently, I got an email with an offer from Scholastic’s Educational Division to license Love in the Library for an AANHPI narratives collection, I was thrilled. If you’ve been in kids’ books for more than ten minutes then you are aware of the...