Amanda Gorman Was Shocked and Saddened by ‘The Hill We Climb’ Florida School Ban : ‘I Couldn’t Understand’ (Video)

Poet and bestselling author Amanda Gorman appeared on “CBS Mornings” for her first interview since her book “The Hill We Climb” was restricted by a Flordia school library.

One parent in Florida requested to have the poetry book, which contains her poem that she read at Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration, banned, but that same complaint stated that Oprah Winfrey wrote the book.

“My initial reaction was a mix of shock and sadness at the same time. One because I couldn’t understand a reason for rendering this piece as inappropriate for elementary school students,” Gorman said. “And also because when I wrote “The Hill We Climb” it was so important for me that young people would see themselves represented in a significant moment in our democratic history. And that the reality of that in that moment would be erased for young people who deserve to see themselves at a place, a station like that. That was just really disappointing.”

The ban request contained claims that the content is “not educational,” “not for schools,” that it can “cause confision,” “indoctrinate students” and that it is “indirectly hate messages.” CBS anchor Gayle King revealed that the parent who lodged the complaint didn’t even read “The Hill We Climb.”

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Gorman also clarified the difference between burning and banning books and restricting them from readers. She drew similarities between the physical doing away with books and the placing of them in places that are more difficult for readers to access.

“There’s a huge loophole that exists where, we expect if a book isn’t being burned behind a school or thrown away, that’s not a ban. Well, what happens is removal and restriction, I guess would be even more accurate terms,” Gorman said. “For example, in the case of my book and the three other books that were banned from Bob Graham Education Center, you will be told it hasn’t been banned, but it has been moved from elementary school shelves to a media center. Students now need to specifically request for those books in order to see them. And they can’t read them until they’ve proved to a media specialist that they have the correct reading level for those books.”

“I think we have to broaden our understanding of the restriction and removal that’s going on, and just because a book is still technically in circulation doesn’t necessarily mean that the access to that book has been preserved,” Gorman continued. “If anything, we’re seeing a lot of rolling back of that access.”

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