Knox County Schools has added Alex Haley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Roots to its banned books list, bringing the district’s banned-book count to 124 titles as of May 2026. The district says these removals are tied to Tennessee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act and restrictions around content deemed inappropriate for school libraries. But when a book like Roots gets removed from student access, we need to stop pretending this is only about “protecting children.”
Roots is one of the most important works in American literature because it forces this country to confront slavery, generational trauma, racism, and the truth of what America did to Black families. Banning it sends a very clear message: some people are more offended by students learning about racism than they are by the racism itself.
This is not education. This is historical censorship. This is whitewashing. This is what happens when politicians and school boards decide that comfort matters more than truth.
If your version of “parental rights” means hiding Black history from students, then it was never about protecting kids. It was about protecting white fragility.
What is Anti Politician Podcast?
My mission is to tear down the patriarchy and help build a society rooted in true equality. I believe in free will - period. Free will for women to choose what they do with their bodies. For people to love who they want. To choose any religion they want. And most importantly, not to have Christianity forced onto our children in schools.