What Johnny Shouldn't Read: Textbook Censorship in America

Wielding an influence far out of proportion to their numbers, according to the author, well-funded ultraconservative activists have used federal lawsuits and intimidation in an attempt to censor textbooks and to color elementary and secondary school education with their views on everything from minorities to nontraditional sex roles, gun control, evolution, holistic health, anti-pollution laws and religious tolerance. DelFattore argues that these fundamentalists target not only multiculturalism, globalism and environmentalism but also the right of students to think for themselves. Focusing on recent federal cases, her important study examines the chilling effect lawsuits exert on textbook content by prompting publishers to quietly practice self-censorship. A professor of English at the University of Delaware, DelFattore also criticizes ``politically correct extremists'' who, in her view, censor part of the truth in their efforts to eliminate sexism and racism from texts. Her lucid critique should serve as a rallying point for parents, teachers and administrators who oppose textbook censorship. Readers' Subscription Book Club selection. (Aug.)