Roberto Germán [00:00:01]:
Welcome to Our cCassroom. In this space, we talk about education, which is inclusive of, but not limited to what happens in schools. Education is taking place whenever and wherever we are willing to learn. I am your host, Roberto Germán, and Our Classroom is officially in session. Welcome back to Our Classroom. Hey. Today we're going to unpack an important idea from a recent blog post written by my wife and the academic director, Multicultural Classroom, Lorena Escoto Germán. And the post is called Harmful Books vs. Harm-Exposing Books.
Roberto Germán [00:00:51]:
Now, if you've ever wondered why certain books get banned while others, the ones that should be questioned, get celebrated, this episode's for you. We're talking about how books can either reinforce harm or reveal it. And that difference, it matters deeply for the kind of world we're shaping through our classroom and conversations. So let's get in. Let's get in. Let's chop it up. What makes a harmful book? Well, Lorena starts by reminding us that, yes, there are books that cause harm. And by harm, she's not just talking about bad feelings or discomfort.
Roberto Germán [00:01:30]:
She's talking about stories that offend, insult, or dehumanize. See, these books can make readers feel inferior, invisible, or misrepresented. They push ideologies that sustain bias and discrimination. Now, that harm can show up in different ways. Yeah, well, yes, for sure. Sometimes it's silence when a book ignores race, bias, or culture altogether, as if whiteness is the default that silence tells students of color. Your story doesn't belong here. Right.
Roberto Germán [00:02:08]:
And insert the situation. But, you know, for the lack of getting too elaborate and running on too much, let's. Let's stay there. Other times, it's explicit statements, overtly racist remarks that go unchecked, or inaccurate depictions, especially of indigenous characters, where the history or culture is distorted. And then there are stereotypes. Maybe the author didn't mean it that way, but stereotypes always do harm because they flatten humanity into a caricature. So the key difference, Lorena points out, is in harmful books, these moments go unnoticed or unchallenged. They reflect the author's bias, not a critique of it.
Roberto Germán [00:03:04]:
And sometimes the harm runs through the entire story. Let's take To Kill a Mockingbird, for example. It tackles race, but ends up centering white saviorism. The lesson becomes, racism is wrong, but white people can fix it. That's not justice. That's narrative comfort for the privilege, you would think. So what makes a book harm exposing? Great question. So Lorena contrasts that with something powerful.
Roberto Germán [00:03:45]:
Books that expose harms. These books don't shy away from pain. They confront it so that readers can feel something and awaken empathy. There's a thought. Think about books like the Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiley, or the Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. These stories don't harm. They heal through honesty. They use truth as a tool for awareness.
Roberto Germán [00:04:24]:
Now, you might find harsh language, violence, or moments of deep grief in these books, but that's not the same as harm. That's real life. So Lorena says these books move you to tears in action. They're written to humanize, to help us see what's broken in our society and to imagine something better. And yet these are the very books being challenged and banned. Isn't that telling why the distinction matters? Lorena names this clearly, books are now guilty until proven innocent. In other words, instead of asking, does this story help us grow? Many are asking, does this story make me uncomfortable? And when the people holding power, often, if I'm being honest, if we are being honest, often white parents, white politicians, and white administrators are the ones making those calls. It's not really about protect the children, it's about protecting privilege.
Roberto Germán [00:05:39]:
So, and by the way, that that's not exclusive to, to white parents, politicians and administrators. Um, often they're the whole people hold the power making those calls, but, but not exclusive to, to them. You know, there's others that play into this. And unfortunately, book bans have become a way to silence marginalized voices and preserve a false sense of comfort. But let's be real, growth doesn't happen in comfort. If a book helps a young person confront injustice, question bias, and recognize shared humanity, that's education. That's what classrooms are for. So as educators, we need to understand this distinction deeply.
Roberto Germán [00:06:25]:
A harmful book sustains injustice. A harm exposing book challenges it. So we need to stand for truth. Lorena ends her post with a call to action, and I want to echo that here. Stand against the banning of books, which is a way to silence voices and narratives that must be heard. Stand for truth and love. So what does that look like in practice? It looks like teachers defending a student's right to see themselves in literature. It looks like parents reading banned books with their kids, not shielding them from reality.
Roberto Germán [00:07:11]:
It looks like communities creating spaces for critical dialogue. Book clubs, readings, classroom discussions. And it looks like each of us asking, am I teaching to protect comfort or to nurture compassion? Because this is the work to expose harm, not perpetuate it. To help students become not just better readers, but better humans. So I appreciate y' all engaging with me for this brief time. And if this conversation resonated with you, I invite you to read Lorena's full post again titled Harmful Books vs. Harm-Exposing Books. And you can check that [email protected]/blog.
Roberto Germán [00:08:15]:
And if you want to dig deeper into anti racist and dismantling bias, anti racist teaching, dismantling bias through literature, well, you could check out the Anti Racist Teacher Course on our website. And before we wrap up, I just want to throw something out there. We've been working behind the scenes. We're cooking up something special. We're excited about it. We are creating space and opportunity for us as a community to dig deeper. But to do so together to create a resource, a library of resources that's going to be particularly beneficial for classroom educators or for those who are serving in an educator role in different types of capacities doesn't have to just be the classroom. You could be home educating your kids.
Roberto Germán [00:09:19]:
You could be working with an after school program. You could be working with a nonprofit. We are cooking up something special and we are excited to draw you into that. And I'm just throwing it out there so that you're aware we still got a few tweaks to make here in the next month or so and then we will circle back to this conversation. But for now, until the next time, keep leading, keep loving, keep learning. You already know it's Our Classroom and we appreciate y' all tuning in. Peace. As always.
Roberto Germán [00:09:56]:
Your engagement in our classroom is greatly appreciated. Be sure to subscribe, rate the show and write a review. Finally, for resources to help you understand the intersection of race, bias, education and society, go to multiculturalclassroom. Com Peace and love from your host, Roberto Germán.
