Set in the segregated South of the 1920’s Uncle Jed’s Barber Shop by Margaree King Mitchell is a book about the only barber in a county of sharecroppers.
Uncle Jed goes from house to house cutting hair as he dreams about owning his own barbershop. But his generous heart coupled with ravages of the Great Depression, and the cruelness of Jim Crow forced him to defer that dream for years.
Finally, after years of hard work and savings Uncle Jed opened his barber shop. His American dream of entrepreneurism had been achieved, with a story worthy to be told to generations of our youth, except in Florida.
Uncle Jed’s Barber Shop was banned in in Duval County, as part of Florida efforts to make it easier for parents to challenge books in school libraries they deem to be pornographic, deal improperly with racial issues or are in other ways inappropriate for students.
Some 200 books have been banded in Duval County including “The Bluest Eye,” a novel by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, Dim Sum for Everyone! by Grace Lin, and Berenstain Bears and the Big Question by Stan and Jan Berenstain.
In Miami-Dade County the poem “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman was placed on a restricted list for elementary students after a parent complained. The reasons for the objection to the poem, which Gorman read during President Joe Biden’s inauguration, were not clear.
However, what is clear is diversity of thought the opportunity for students to comfort difficult and perhaps uncomfortable parts of our history which is vital for the critical thinking skills of an educated people is under attack.
The philosopher George Santayana, reminds us “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” But what happens when the past is never taught?
God’s Word the Bible is an historical document filled with accounts that could get it banded in Florida. However, I would suggest reading the scriptures even by the youngest of minds expands knowledge, creating critical thinking skills while growing our faith.
As laws like those enacted in Florida sweep across the nation Paul reminds us in 2nd Corinthians 13:13 that the trinity, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit will be with, us even as the hills that we climb have become steeper.
Let us climb those hills by becoming our children’s credible teachers of the past.
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