Nevin Carr is the chair of the New Hanover County GOP. While he said he didn’t read the book, he said he’s familiar with the ideas of Ibram X. Kendi. That’s the writer whose work Jason Reynolds used to write Stamped: Antiracism, Racism, and You.
“It has everything to do with these racist structures and barriers, and you have no chance, and you’re born into a world that's working against you,” he said.
Carr said he takes issue with framing the removal of Stamped as a “book ban.”
“So what does a book ban really mean? There are tremendous works throughout thousands of years, so by omission, those books are all banned if they're not being taught in the classroom,” he said.
Deborah Dicks Maxwell is the president of North Carolina’s NAACP. She was born and raised in Wilmington and still lives in New Hanover County. She said this book teaches a valuable perspective, especially in light of the white supremacist coup in Wilmington more than a century ago.
“This is the city of 1898. Black people have been oppressed here for so long. And then to suppress the education. [...] There is racism and anti-racism that occurs in this city,” she said.
While Maxwell wants the book to be available in both the curriculum and in the library — Carr said the best outcome is that it’s not allowed for classroom instruction, but said he could see a case for it being the library, “but if someone's going to use that as the predicate for being able to bring it into the classroom, then now there might be an issue, so these are a little bit more complicated.”
And while Carr said there’s no reason for the book to be used as instructional material, Maxwell said it sheds light on American history. She said she remembers using segregated facilities in New Hanover County.
“I'm old enough that there was a separate library for Blacks on Red Cross Street. [...] We read [authors] like James Baldwin, and Malcolm X and different things, and you must relate that everyone does not have a 'golf course history.' That is not the true definition of this country,” she said.
Maxwell said that most of her life she’s learned the “rose-colored” history of the nation — and wishes that Katie Gates, the parent who has been pushing for months to have Stamped banned, would support more diverse perspectives in the school system.
“I definitely know her history, I have no choice; I'm forced to and so has my whole family, she needs to be open-minded and learn a little bit about my history as a Black person in this country,” she said.
Carr responded to Maxwell’s comments, “I respect that. We should learn about the history of this country: the good, the bad, and the ugly. [...] There's people who want to seek the truth. And then there's people that want to indoctrinate. [...] Like I said, there is no institutionalized government-sanctioned racism in this country. You can't say that about every other country in the world right now,” Carr said.
But for Maxwell, it’s still about the diversity of thought in this book.
“Be empathetic to others within the community, not just your own insular group.[...] I have the Qur’an in my house, along with the Bible. I'm not a practicing Muslim, but it does help to know about other cultures and identities,” Maxwell said.
It’s unclear what the stakes are for Friday’s public hearing. The book could be removed from just one teacher’s classroom, all classrooms, or the district’s libraries. Or it could stay where it is.
It’s up to the board’s discretion.
Each side, Gates and the district representative, Assistant Superintendent Dawn Brinson, will have 20 minutes to present their arguments. Board members will be allowed to ask questions.
The board also received 36 exhibits, totalling 161 pages, to review before the hearing. Exhibits 1-4 are statutes and board policies & procedures; 5-10 were created by ‘petitioner’ Katie Gates; 11-36 were submitted by ‘respondent’ NHCS.
The district will be livestreaming the 9 a.m. hearing — and the public is invited to attend.
Previous reporting on the book
- New Hanover county school board sets public hearing date for “Stamped”
- The public weighs in on “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You”
- The rhetoric over “Stamped” is heating up
- NHC school board set to hold public hearing on "Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You"
- New Hanover County school board will now decide “Stamped” book challenge (Second MTAC Committee report)
- 'Stamped' out? The battle to remove an AP-English book from a New Hanover County school (First MTAC Committee report)
- NHCSO investigated schools for ‘obscene and pornographic’ books, DA found no unlawful content
