SARASOTA, Fla. — After the Sarasota County School District shut down a parent's attempt to ban his book, "Stamped," author and anti-racism activist Ibram Kendi is speaking about the issue.
In a conversation with 10 Tampa Bay, the author said it is still mind-boggling and inconceivable to him that people would want to ban a book that teaches that racism is wrong and demonstrates its negative impacts on society.
"I still feel like we're facing up against Jim Crow segregationists who are seeking to ban books," Kendi said.
Named among Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2020, author, historian, and director of Boston University's Center for Antiracist Research, Kendi and his books are no stranger to controversy.
Early this month, District of Sarasota School board members and concerned citizens discussed banning his book from school libraries.
The book, which is co-authored with Jason Reynolds, discusses systemic racism in the U.S. and how it has impacted Black people. However, a Sarasota mom claimed the book teaches white children that they're inherently racist and was not age appropriate for schools.
"That to me proves that they haven't read the book or they need to go back to school to get some reading comprehension because the books don't teach that," Kendi said. "If anything, it teaches our children the importance of racial equality."
The book ban bid failed as board members voted 3-2 to keep the book in libraries. However, it's now a requirement for middle school students to get parental consent before checking it out.
"This idea that children learning about racism is not age-appropriate flies in the face of the very fact that young children experience racism," Kendi said. "Scholars who study racism with children, find that the young people are being harmed by racism and need to understand what's happening to them and what's happening in their world."
Kendi recently published a new book co-authored with Nic Stone, titled "How To Be A Young Antiracist" for young activists seeking justice and equity in their community.
"Over the last few years in the United States as you had young people who have been demanding, and wanting to learn about not only racism but have been trying to figure out how they can be a part of the change," he said.
The parental consent restriction to Kendi's book is only for middle school students. High school students don't need parental consent or parental notification to check the book out of the library in Sarasota County schools.