*A Texas parent is calling for a children’s biography about former first lady Michelle Obama to be pulled from library shelves because it is “leftist indoctrination” that shames white girls.
As reported by NBC News, in a “Request for Reconsideration of Instructional Resources,” an unnamed parent also argued that “Michelle Obama: Political Icon” by Heather E. Schwartz “unfairly” painted former President Donald Trump as a “bully.”
The parent’s complaint was sent to the Katy Independent School District in Texas, and NBC News reporter Mike Hixenbaugh posted a copy of it on Twitter Thursday.
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Here’s the form a Katy ISD parent filled out asking to ban a children’s biography of Michelle Obama at all grade levels, arguing it promotes “reverse racism” and depicts Trump as “a bully.” (The school district reviewed the book and deemed it appropriate to remain on shelves) pic.twitter.com/WHKsbx6D22
— Mike Hixenbaugh (@Mike_Hixenbaugh) February 3, 2022
The request comes as conservative parents and officials continue to push to ban books depicting race, sexuality, and gender from school libraries. NBC News published on Wednesday a list of 50 books that parents in Texas have asked schools to remove.
In a statement to Insider, Schwartz said she was “shocked” that the parent has described her book as reverse racism.
“It rose to the top of some of the headlines, I think, because it’s sort of outrageous,” Schwartz said of the effort to ban the book, as reported by The Daily Gazette. “Because it’s not a controversial topic at all. It’s a nonfiction book about a real person, based on facts.”
“The idea is to give readers different examples of successful women that they could see as role models — see themselves in, in some way,” said Schwartz, who’s served as a correspondent for The Daily Gazette, Albany Business Review and Saratogian, and has contributed to Times Union specialty publications.
Schwartz said students deserve to have access to books that offer varied perspectives on the world.
“They’re just reading. But at the same time, it feels like kind of an honor to be on a list of books that people want to ban because it means that the book had an impact and inspired feelings in someone, and it also draws attention to the book and the topic of Michelle Obama,” she said. “And I think that’s great because that means more kids will read about her and learn about her.”
Maria Corrales DiPetta, a spokesperson for the Katy Independent School District, told Insider the district reviewed the Obama book after the parent’s complaint and decided not to remove it.
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