The current spate of book banning is nothing new in America. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly take readers back to Kanawha County in 1974 when protestors firebombed schools and shot at school buses to protest the adoption of a new textbooks. The books, they said, were obscene and would hurt children so what better way to save them but by throwing sticks of dynamites into their classrooms, right?
Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands
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Posner, Sarah. "Debate over teaching books by Black authors has roots in violent 1974 clash in West Virginia." Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2021, p. NA. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A680608885/STND?u=nysl_sc_flls&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=36a235ac. Accessed 12 Feb. 2022.
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Vass, Kyle ”West Virginia textbook battle shows how GOP turned its image from 'blue blood to blue collar'; Before conservatives weaponized critical race theory, a violent 1974 clash over school books helped Republicans rebrand to appeal to white workers." Guardian [London, England], 25 Nov. 2021, p. NA. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A683847032/STND?u=nysl_sc_flls&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=06158f7f. Accessed 12 Feb. 2022.
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