Posted in: Comics | Tagged:

Persepolis Protest To Be Held This Afternoon At 3.30pm (UPDATE)

Bleeding Cool reported on the attempted banning of the comic book Persepolis at a Chicago school, Lane Tech College Prep, earlier this morning.

According to DNAinfo, the e-mail was partially reversed later that day, with the school library being exempted from the ban. It was pointed out that this action would have been illegal. However it seems the damage was done. And the book is still banned from use in classes.

There will be a protest held this afternoon between 3.30pm at 4pm at Western Avenue and Addison Street, regarding the decision.

UPDATE: Gapers Block runs a response from Chicago Publis Schools to the controversy.

March 15, 2013

Dear Principals:I am writing to clarify an email you received from Network Chiefs earlier this week about the graphic novel, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. First, let me be clear – we are not banning this book from our schools.

Persepolis is included as a selection in the Literacy Content Framework for seventh grade. It was brought to our attention that it contains graphic language and images that are not appropriate for general use in the seventh grade curriculum. If your seventh grade teachers have not yet taught this book, please ask them not to do so and to remove any copies of the book from their classrooms.

We have determined Persepolis may be appropriate for junior and senior students and those in Advance Placement classes. Due to the powerful images of torture in the book, I have asked our Office of Teaching & Learning to develop professional development guidelines, so that teachers can be trained to present this strong, but important content. We are also considering whether the book should be included, after appropriate teacher training, in the curriculum of eighth through tenth grades. Once this curricular determination has been made, we will notify you.

Also, please be reminded that central school library collections are governed by the New Collection Development Policy For School Libraries. We are not requesting that you remove Persepolis from your central school library. Therefore do not remove this book or any other book from the central school library, unless you have complied with the policy.

Thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you and your staff.

Sincerely,

Barbara Byrd-Bennett
Chief Executive Officer, Chicago Public Schools

This is in direct contradiction to the version as expressed in the original e-mail that started all this…

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!