In the latest episode of “progressives get their collective panties all in a bunch,” leftists are all out of sorts because of a decision a Tennessee school board made regarding a popular graphic novel about the holocaust. They have used this development to push their “book banning” narrative that they have been using to distract from issues like the debate over wokeism and elements of Critical Race Theory (CRT) being introduced to students in the classroom.

CNBC reported:

A Tennessee school board has voted to remove the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel “Maus” from an eighth grade language arts curriculum due to concerns about profanity and an image of female nudity in its depiction of Polish Jews who survived the Holocaust.

The Jan. 10 vote by the McMinn County School Board, which only began attracting attention Wednesday, comes amid a number of battles in school systems around the country as conservatives target curriculums over teachings about the history of slavery and racism in America.

See that last sentence? That should give you a clue into how the left is going to try shaping the narrative here.

Art Spiegelman, the author of the graphic novel, suggested that the school board’s decision isn’t really about profanity and nudity. CNBC reported:

Spiegelman also said he suspected that its members were motivated less about some mild curse words and more by the subject of the book, which tells the story of his Jewish parents’ time in Nazi concentration camps, the mass murder of other Jews by Nazis, his mother’s suicide when he was just 20 and his relationship with his father.

“I’ve met so many young people who … have learned things from my book,” said Spiegelman about “Maus.” The image in the book that drew objections from the board was of his mother.

However, there was one nagging problem with the left’s attempt to intimate that this would mean the Holocaust would not be taught in the district. The board released a statement explaining that it would simply be replacing “Maus” with other books that teach about the Holocaust in an age-appropriate way. It said they “do not diminish the value of Maus as an impactful and meaningful piece of literature, nor do we dispute the importance of teaching our children the historical and moral lessons and realities of the Holocaust.”

The board continued:

To the contrary we have asked our administrators to find other works that accomplish the same educational goals in a more age appropriate fashion. The atrocities of the Holocaust were shameful beyond description, and we all have an obligation to ensure that younger generations learn of its horrors to ensure such an event is never repeated.

Nevertheless, leftists had their usual fake outrage meltdown. Writer Tara Dublin tweeted:

Really weird how the people who keep crying about “cancel culture” are literally trying to cancel whatever’s left of our culture #Maus

Really weird how the people who keep crying about “cancel culture” are literally trying to cancel whatever’s left of our culture #Maus https://t.co/ALWLjXc0kv

— Tara Dublin (@taradublinrocks) January 27, 2022

Media activist Judd Legum also chimed in:

1. The decision of a Tennessee county school board to ban Maus from the classroom is not an isolated incident

It is part of a much broader effort to censor history and literature being packaged under euphemisms like “parents rights”

1. The decision of a Tennessee county school board to ban Maus from the classroom is not an isolated incident

It is part of a much broader effort to censor history and literature being packaged under euphemisms like "parents rights"

Follow along if interested pic.twitter.com/Ciidqperrz

— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) January 27, 2022

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) tweeted:

Maus has taught countless young people about the Holocaust through its depiction of what the author’s father, a survivor, experienced.

Censoring school curriculum and​ banning books ​can’t “protect” anyone from history, it only limits access to knowledge and understanding.

Maus has taught countless young people about the Holocaust through its depiction of what the author's father, a survivor, experienced.

Censoring school curriculum and​ banning books ​can't "protect" anyone from history, it only limits access to knowledge and understanding. https://t.co/AZsoXSUbZ6

— ACLU (@ACLU) January 27, 2022

In an op-ed written for CNN, columnist David M. Perry also complained about the decision to replace the books. “To ban ‘Maus’ for being an uncomfortable read is, in fact, to be against teaching the Holocaust, regardless of the school board member’s protests to the contrary,” he wrote. To actually engage with the horror of the Holocaust, one has to be horrified, thrown from one’s comfortable position, engaging with the terrible, messy reality.”

He continued, claiming that “the timing of canceling ‘Maus’ a few days before International Holocaust Remembrance Day is telling,” and that the move is occurring “in the midst of a growing number of right-wing attacks on teaching history.”

The bottom line is that the book banning narrative falls flat in this particular instance. Sure, there are other situations in which this type of criticism is warranted. But it is clear the district is not going to stop teaching about the Holocaust.

“Maus” is not the only book 8^th graders can read that will teach them about the horrors of what happened in Nazi Germany, so it makes no sense to pretend this will stop them from learning about the atrocity. Switching the source material is not the same as keeping students from being educated on the history — no matter how badly the left wishes it were.

I won’t make any judgments regarding whether the book is appropriate for 8^th graders, as I have not read it. Some of the reports suggest parents would have preferred to keep the graphic novel. But instead of debating the merits of the book – which would be a worthy conversation – the left is simply using this to push a political narrative.