'Empty shelves with absolutely no books'

[Graham2001]

I'm pretty sure this was not what the drafters of the Ontario DEI plan intended.. But then as they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
Those are all examples of books Reina Takata says she can no longer find in her public high school library in Mississauga, Ont., which she visits on her lunch hour most days.


In May, Takata says the shelves at Erindale Secondary School were full of books, but she noticed that they had gradually started to disappear. When she returned to school this fall, things were more stark.


"This year, I came into my school library and there are rows and rows of empty shelves with absolutely no books," said Takata, who started Grade 10 last week.


She estimates more than 50 per cent of her school's library books are gone.
In the spring, Takata says students were told by staff that "if the shelves look emptier right now it's because we have to remove all books [published] prior to 2008."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/peel-school-board-library-book-weeding-1.6964332

 

[jt512]

I'm pretty sure this was not what the drafters of the Ontario DEI plan intended.. But then as they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

I think you're giving too much credit to the drafters of the Ontario DEI plan.

 

[Beerina]

Free Fahrenheit 451s all around. And have an Emperor's New Clothes while you're at it.

 

[PitPat]

It's pretty cute how Canada has finally caught up with the US about banning books that corrupt our vulnerable youth in public schools.

 

[TheGoldcountry]

All the scary books that I read when I was young that a lot of people said had "silly things that could never happen" are now starting to happen.

Forget ever getting "Star Trek," in our future, it's going to be "Fahrenheit 451", "The Handmaid's Tale", and "The Road."

 

[sir drinks-a-lot]

Most interestingly, the claim is that this is somehow increasing diversity, equity and inclusion.

 

[TheGoldcountry]

nm

 

[PitPat]

No it will not. Look, we're all the same co-equal animals on this crazy world (but some are more equal than others).

 

[Thermal]

So if I have this right, they were aiming to review anything published before 2008 to make sure it wasn't off message, but someone went all cowboy and just removed everything published before 2008?

 

[theprestige]

So if I have this right, they were aiming to review anything published before 2008 to make sure it wasn't off message, but someone went all cowboy and just removed everything published before 2008?

Cuts right to the chase, that does.

 

[Lplus]

So if I have this right, they were aiming to review anything published before 2008 to make sure it wasn't off message, but someone went all cowboy and just removed everything published before 2008?

Who has the time to review every pre 2008 book in a library then, more importantly, have to defend their decision every time there's a complaint about one of the remaining books not being totally inclusive etc.

Far easier to just junk the lot - no way anyone can complain about a book if it isn't there.

 

[Thermal]

Cuts right to the chase, that does.

Just...can't figure out how someone screws up at that magnitude, and simultaneously no one ignores it saying "obvious typo is obvious".

 

[jt512]

Most interestingly, the claim is that this is somehow increasing diversity, equity and inclusion.

Yes, diversity and inclusion through forced ideological conformity. It's pure Orwell.

 

[theprestige]

Just...can't figure out how someone screws up at that magnitude, and simultaneously no one ignores it saying "obvious typo is obvious".

I'm not sure it is a big screwup, in the context of what these people are trying to accomplish. If the premise is that everything before 2008 is suspect, there's something to be said for just going clean slate.

This way, they only have to consider arguments for whichever pre-2008 books someone actually wants to argue for. That's got to be a lot cheaper than having to consider arguments for every single pre-2008 book currently on their shelves. It also almost completely eliminates the risk of impressionable young minds getting the Wrong Impresssion, while the Great Work slowly proceeds.

 

[theprestige]

Most interestingly, the claim is that this is somehow increasing diversity, equity and inclusion.

Yes, diversity and inclusion through forced ideological conformity. It's pure Orwell.

The argument seems pretty simple, in this case: The pre-2008 corpus is so extremely weighted towards Old White Dudes (or whatever the Out Group is), that eliminating it completely greatly improves the balance of diverse voices being heard.

 

[Thermal]

Almost afraid to ask, but did something happen in 2008 that made it a Declaration of Independence kind of moment or was it more a spitball approximation of the moment of cultural conformity?

 

[marting]

When I was in college DEI meant something quite different.

 

[theprestige]

Almost afraid to ask, but did something happen in 2008 that made it a Declaration of Independence kind of moment or was it more a spitball approximation of the moment of cultural conformity?

2008 was the year Barack Obama was elected the first woman black president of the United States.

 

[dann]

What do the book burners have against The Hunger Games?

 

[Thermal]

2008 was the year Barack Obama was elected the first woman black president of the United States.

The first Twilite Movie was released in 2008. I guess we all herald our cultural turning points differently.