Judd Legum1. This high school English teacher is trying to ban 150 books from school libraries in Florida
I talked to her to find out why
Buckle up
This one gets a bit wild
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2. One book challenged by the teacher, Vicki Baggett, is When Wilma Rudolph Played Basketball
The book is about the childhood of Rudolph, a sprinter who won three gold medals
It covers how she overcame physical limitations and racial prejudice in the 40s to become a champion
3. In the challenge form submitted Baggett on August 24, she claims that the purpose of the book is "race-baiting" and it is not appropriate for any age group.
4. In an interview, Baggett said the book "trashes and puts down those who are not black." She describes the book, which is a true story of Rudolph's experience, as "very anti-white."
5. Baggett didn't dispute the book was an accurate portrayal of life in the American South in the 40s (separate water fountains etc) but insisted it would make white students "feel uncomfortable" because "they are being white-shamed."
6. Baggett says When Wilma Rudolph Played Basketball is inappropriate because "not all whites treated blacks like this."
Baggett added that "not all blacks do drug crimes, like a lot of people say."
7. Baggett said she challenged the book because she believed it violated the DeSantis' Stop WOKE Act.
The bill prohibits instructing students that they "must feel guilt, anguish⌠because of actions... committed in the past by other members of the same race"
8. Pressed on whether her interpretation of the Stop WOKE Act would allow any instruction about historical prejudice, Baggett suggested that the book might be appropriate for children starting in fourth grade.
This directly contradicts what she wrote on the form
9. Baggett's social media accounts raise more questions about her approach to racial issues.
In 2015, Baggett posted a picture of the Confederate Flag on her Facebook page.
10. Baggett said she posted the flag because "everyone in my clan fought in the Civil War" and she was not "ashamed of that."
Baggett added that she was a member of the Daughters of the Confederacy, which has been designated as part of the Neo-Confederate movement.
11. As recently as 2018, the Daughters of the Confederacy website stated: "Slaves, for the most part, were faithful and devoted. Most slaves were usually ready and willing to serve their masters."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/10/united-daughters-of-the-confederacy-statues-lawsuit
LeaBug@juddlegum enslaved people were enslaved, not because they wanted to be. It was because they were forced to be. This lady can kindly f off.
Chris Owens@LeaBug @juddlegum Itâs like itâs right there in the word: slave. What does that mean?
JD@LeaBug @juddlegum sheâs a racist POS
@jag0325 @juddlegum she makes me sick.
BlueDawn@juddlegum Daughters of the Confederacy like to block out these humans were SLAVES, not houseguests, and whether they lived or died depended on them being "faithful and devoted."
12. Baggett said she did not believe the photo of the Confederate Flag she posted on Facebook could make her students uncomfortable. She said her students "know me very well" and "my best friend is a black woman."
13. The Escambia County School District is dealing with a flood of book challenges, and nearly all of them were filed by Baggett.
Baggett is responsible for 148 of the 150 book challenges in Escambia this year.
MORE:
Meet the Florida English teacher trying to ban 150 books from school libraries
When Wilma Rudolph Played Basketball is a book about the childhood of Wilma Rudolph, a legendary sprinter who won three gold medals at the 1960 Olympic games in Rome. The book, which is 32 pages long, is geared toward readers in elementary school. The story focuses on Rudolph's childhood and the obstacles she had to overcome to achieve success. Rudolph, for example, had polio as a child and was forced to wear a leg brace. She was told by a doctor that she would never be able to walk without the brace. But Rudolph was determined.
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15. Baggett's challenges are not limited to books she believes handle racial issues inappropriately. She has also challenged numerous books for allegedly violating the Parental Rights in Education Act, also known as the "Don't Say Gay" law.
16. Among the books challenged by Baggett is And Tango Makes Three.
The book is the true story of two male penguins, Roy and Silo, who lived in the Central Park Zoo. The pair build a nest together, and â after the zookeeper provides them w/an egg â raise an adopted child, Tango
17. In her form challenging the book, Baggett alleged it promoted the "LGBTQ agenda using penguins." On the form, Baggett said she believes the purpose of the book is "indoctrination."
18. In an interview, Baggett said she objected to And Tango Makes Three because it exposes students to "alternate sexual ideologies."
She noted that, at one point in the story, the zookeeper says, "these two penguins must be in love."
That, she says, is sexual "innuendo."
Catmama đ@juddlegum
That racist trash objects to reality and she needs to go.
That racist trash objects to reality and she needs to go.
19. Baggett explained her objections in more detail: "I think what would happen is a second grader would read this book, and that idea would pop into the second grader's mind⌠that these are two people of the same sex that love each other."
20. She said she challenged the book because she believed it violated the law.
Baggett did say she supports the Parental Rights in Education Act because she believes that "kids need to be kids."
21. These kind of challenges to books, and academic freedom in general, are happening across the country.
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22. Baggett has also challenged dozens of books for high school students, primarily objecting to sexual content.
Books Baggett has challenged on this basis include Perks of Being a Wallflower, Beloved, Slaughterhouse-Five, and Water for Elephants.
23. According to Baggett, "[i]f I could not walk up to you and start saying to you in a conversational tone" anything written in the book "and know that I'm not going to be in trouble," then that book is pornographic and should be removed from the library.
24. Baggett's test, however, does not comport with Florida or federal law. Florida's law prohibits books in school libraries that both contain "explicit and detailed verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexual excitement, or sexual conduct" AND are "harmful to minors."
25. Florida law and Supreme Court precedent affirm that not every book with explicit sexual content is harmful to minors.
26. The Miller test defines obscenity as work that appeals to "purient interests," depicts sexual conduct in a "patently offensive way," AND "taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value."
WndlB@juddlegum Because these cases suppressed the censorious for a generation, and because the likes of Pornhub was off by itself, tolerated in its place, there have been no court cases, and so not a clue as to how The Supreme Six would handle any new obscenity prosecutions, or other cases.
Tom@juddlegum I particularly like this bit, because according to her own test the Bible is pornography
@dlenares@juddlegum
small talk... what a boring book to read.
small talk... what a boring book to read.
mike@juddlegum The form has her assert that sheâs read the full work, as well as critical responses to the work. It is hilarious to imagine her cramming all these novels while she digs her fingernails into her palms in an effort not to be influenced by the filthy filthy filth. Oh well. Maybe if hell is real. We can hope!
Dr. Earhart Sampson PhD@juddlegum It is surprising to me that magas have always been more worried about sex than violence.
Shannon@juddlegum Not one of those books should be banned for anything, ever. They are all excellent.
Dissent@juddlegum Well... Yes. And?
MylesRyden@juddlegum
What a putz this woman is. People of the same sex love each other all the time. I love my dad, my brother and a couple of my buddies. Service people often develop a deep love for their comrades.
What she means is "some people do things in the privacy of their bedroom that I find disgusting." Which is none of her damn business.
RichardOntario@juddlegum I donât believe in the Bible but I do remember Jesus saying he loved his (male) disciples
Karl Morant đ¨đŚ 
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Caitlin plz@juddlegum lol this woman is wild. Oh no! Two gay penguins are in love! What will the children think?!!
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@juddlegum how is she an English teacher when sheâs surprised that writing can be used to share ideas??
WGM412@juddlegum I came across this gem that really makes me wonder about the Florida education systems.
JoyceInReno@juddlegum The thought of this woman being in the position to influence hundreds (thousands?) of students is truly appalling.
Glenn@juddlegum To this woman, "innuendo" is an innuendo. It is sad that Terry Pratchett is not around to comment on this.
@juddlegum pretty sure the book doesn't say: "the penguin bent the other penguin over the zoo railing and went at it" dollars to donuts she could give a shit if a man and woman were "in Love" such trash
Robyn Rudd@juddlegum Does she have a closed mind?
Scott D. Strader đ@juddlegum ok, the phrase "promoted the LGBTQ agenda using penguins" is--even though this is a serious subject--objectively funny.
Susan@juddlegum âLGBTQ agenda using penguinsâ. I keep thinking of a second sentence here to share my baffle-tization. Itâs SNL worthy.
Violinknitter
Jens Gammelgaard@juddlegum
And itâs not even rare. In Odense Zoo, Denmark, two males kidnapped a baby penguin back in 2018.
https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/regionale/fyn/homoseksuelle-pingviner-kidnapper-unge-i-odense-zoo
@juddlegum The true story of two Central Park penguins. No wonder this is seen a dangerous text that must be banned!
JudyBPaints@juddlegum This is a well written, delightful story. Period. It is highly reviewed by a number of resources librarians use for collection development. Not including this book in a public school collection, especially back when it was first published, is inexcusable and incompetency on the part of the school or public librarian.
LaStrega
Precious Bodily Fluids@juddlegum ah, so one problem about mastodon is that threads show up in any old order. i've got 15, 12, 18, 17, 16, 14, 13, 6, 5, 11, ...
Brian Wandell@juddlegum @lukelukeluke As you say, they are present and randomly ordered in my Feed, but the ordering is correct when using Show Thread.
Doctor Historianess@juddlegum wow, just...wow. How does she still have a job? What parent would allow a child to be in her classroom?
Kayo@historianess @juddlegum The same parent that is in total agreement with her but too much of a coward to rant his/her racism publicly. Same people and party (GOP) that supports Trump and Desantis.
@juddlegum That is some misguided reasoning. Sounds like she expects everyone to just pretend nothing happened so we don't hurt anyone's feelings.
@pineywoozle âs #3WordNote@juddlegum Why are so many Twitter refugees with decent content soooo damn oblivious to the fact that hashtags actually increase who can see your initial post and if it can be discovered later.
Matt@Pineywoozle @juddlegum itâs a learning curve. Weâll get there soon