Pamela K GilbertFeb 1, 2023
Brendan Nyhan
In America. In 2023. What a moral panic looks like. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/01/31/florida-hide-books-stop-woke-manatee-county-duval-county-desantis/
Hide your books to avoid felony charges, Fla. schools tell teachers

Unsure of what titles violate new state rules, two school districts told educators to conceal every book for now.

The Washington Post
Jan 31, 2023 at 7:24pmWeb
Show threadAsymptosisJan 31, 2023
@brendannyhan I wonder if some very brave teacher will find grounds and standing to challenge this, refuse to comply.
Show threadAllan Svelmøe HansenJan 31, 2023
@brendannyhan where books are considered more dangerous than guns. Sad.
Show threadJason ONJan 31, 2023
@svelmoe @brendannyhan books are more dangerous than guns.
Show threadFábio Costa 🐇🕐🎩☕Jan 31, 2023
@brendannyhan It would be nice when parents ask for Bibles and people says they hid them
Show thread~hickscaJan 31, 2023
@brendannyhan this is truly crazy to me. B/c we’ve seen and written about these exact scenarios.
Show threadRich Puchalsky Jan 31, 2023

@brendannyhan

Why prefixing this kind of thing with "In America" for rhetorical emphasis? America has always been the home of censorious moral panics. It's like writing "In America. In 2023. What anti-Black racism looks like."

Show threadDave MazellaJan 31, 2023
@brendannyhan if the threat is coming from elected officials, cops and prosecutors I’d call it fascism
Show threadJon TringhamJan 31, 2023
@brendannyhan I’m sure that hiding books will make students totally uninterested in reading them.
Show threadRybot Calbearo🎾🇪🇸Jan 31, 2023
@brendannyhan is this really a moral panic or is it targeted legislative bullying intending to upset “libs” (professional teachers who are overwhelmingly liberal) and hurt vulnerable minority groups while undermining a generally trusted public institution which can be something of a bulwark against reactionary values. All the while giving RDS credit with the “piss off the libs” crowd. This does seem to check off all the boxes for RDS. I’m not buying an real moral outrage on his part.
Show threadMack ReedJan 31, 2023
@brendannyhan You seem to have misspelled “what American fascism looks like.”
Show threadSpicewallaJan 31, 2023

@brendannyhan

Calling it a moral panic seems like an understatement.

Tipper Gore's crusade to censor music lyrics was a moral panic. Evangelicals whingeing that D&D was satanic was a moral panic.

The state threatening to jail teachers for doing their jobs is full-blown fascism.

Show threadTim RichardsJan 31, 2023
@brendannyhan @atfun What TF is going on over there? Book burning up next?
Show threadBrian BellaFeb 4, 2023
@timrichards @brendannyhan
Book burning? Don't give 'em any more ideas.
Show threadJoshJan 31, 2023
@brendannyhan It get more of a Third Reich vibe, to be honest. Genuinely worrying.
Show threadDouglas Phillips BooksFeb 1, 2023
@brendannyhan paywall
Show threadMT NickersonFeb 1, 2023
@brendannyhan my 8th graders are reading Fahrenheit 451 right now. The scary parallels between what is happening now and e ents in the book are increasing daily.
Show threadPat MartinFeb 1, 2023
@brendannyhan it's not a moral panic, it's creeping fascism.
Show threadDer Entgegner (Aka Ratatöskr)Feb 1, 2023
@brendannyhan we know why they do this and we know their idols. And they know that too.