Reading About Cuba (Or Not)

By TChris, Section Constitution
Posted on Wed Jun 06, 2007 at 09:44:51 PM EST
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Catcher in the Rye, Huckleberry Finn, and the Harry Potter novels regularly appear on lists of banned books, but the Miami-Dade County School District has extended its censorial reach to "Vamos a Cuba" ("A Visit to Cuba"), "a children's book that critics contend glorifies life in Fidel Castro's Cuba."

The board - supported by members of the Miami-area's influential Cuban-American community -believes the English and Spanish book is inaccurate and fails to address Castro's communist government.

Instead of pulling the book from school libraries, why not add books that describe Castro's Cuba from a competing perspective? Aren't schools the ideal place to test the marketplace of ideas?

The Eleventh Circuit will decide whether the school board was entitled to remove the book.

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Reading About Cuba (Or Not) | 28 comments (28 topical)

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No (none / 0) (#1)
by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Jun 06, 2007 at 09:47:20 PM EST

the issue is is it factual. The logic you apply Chris, with all due respect, is that of Creationists.

I have no idea if the book is factual or not but the test you propose is not the right one imo.

There's a big difference. (none / 0) (#3)
by TChris on Wed Jun 06, 2007 at 10:32:05 PM EST

This isn't a textbook that misrepresents or distorts science. The omission of political information from a library book that isn't about politics strikes me as an unfortunate political reason to ban a book. I'd rather see it balanced with books that take a different perspective.


: If the book is accurate (none / 0) (#4)
by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Jun 06, 2007 at 10:38:20 PM EST

then your point is taken. I took you to mean that an inaccurate book can bebalanced by an accurate book.
I understand now that is not your argument.
Point withdrawn.

Who is it making the claim the the book (none / 0) (#2)
by Edger on Wed Jun 06, 2007 at 10:06:02 PM EST

"glorifies"?

Why not let a random sample of say, 1000 adults, read it and decide. Like "community standards" only nationwide?

Gallup could tell by saturday if it glorifies anything, or not.

Better choice: Waiting for Snow in Havana (none / 0) (#5)
by oculus on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 01:58:53 AM EST

by Carlos Eire. He was a young boy in Havana before Castro's revolution, during the revolution, and for the first three years of Castro's regime. Talk about compare and contrast.

Competing Perspective? (none / 0) (#6)
by jarober on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 07:22:21 AM EST

Geez, TChris - Cuba is a totalitarian regime, period. Why not have books that show Mussolini's Italy from a "competing perspective", too? or perhaps Chile under Pinochet?

Accept the ugly nature of the Cuban regime and move on. This "no enemies to the Left" thing just makes you look silly.

Context, Community Standards, Wording (none / 0) (#7)
by Aaron on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 08:55:34 AM EST

I'm not familiar with this book, so I can't speak intelligently as to its content. But I'm almost certain that the 11th circuit has more important things they should be addressing. The Cuban community in the Miami area does have some political sway, and a bit in the state legislature, but that's the extent of their power. I don't like when I see the anti-Castro community being hyped as some kind of all powerful force in America. It just ain't so.

I'm not for banning books of any kind, but I also don't want to see young children exposed to veiled political propaganda which would give them a mistaken impression of the world. This is apparently just a child's reader, and as such does not address political issues, which children that age would have difficulty understanding anyway, but to put this issue in context, how would Jewish Americans, Holocaust survivors perhaps, feel about a child's reader that had children dressed in Hitler youth uniforms with swastikas on their arms? You think the Jews in Miami would have a problem with that? Communities do have some rights to set local standards, and that is a consideration in this case.

In addition let me take this opportunity to chastise those who run this blog, specifically T. Chris in this case, for wording something in a manner that gives a misapprehension to your readers, specifically mentioning Miami-Dade County school districts in reference to banned books like Mark Twain and JK Rowling's, and all the other books on the list posted in the link. Are these books indeed banned in the Miami-Dade school district? At what level are some of these books banned, elementary? High school? Please be specific. If it was not your intention to give this impression, then I think you should rewrite that passage.

Secondly, such books are used in Cuba to indoctrinate the very young, something public schools, at least, don't do here in America. If you're comfortable allowing elementary school children to be exposed to such a book, however innocuous their contents, how would you feel about them being given access to book that could be seen as glorifying and painting George Bush's new conservative America in the rosiest of lights. After all shouldn't we expose our little tykes to competing political ideologies? Somehow I imagine you wouldn't be thrilled with that, nor would I.

No (none / 0) (#8)
by jimakaPPJ on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 12:52:39 PM EST

Aren't schools the ideal place to test the marketplace of ideas?

Actually no.

Leaving aside the fact Little Johnny (or Suzy) most likely is not educated enough in the basics...

K-12 is the place to educate children to the community's standards.

That's right. (none / 0) (#9)
by Edger on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 12:58:12 PM EST

Get the little buggers programmed first. Then just try teaching 'em how to think. Right, jim?


Yup (none / 0) (#12)
by Wile ECoyote on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 02:10:44 PM EST

only gov't schools for the little buggers, no choice for them.


Edger (none / 0) (#13)
by jimakaPPJ on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 02:14:24 PM EST

So teaching them the basics so they can read, write and do math is programing??? I don't think so.

I think it is criminal to not do that because without the basics they are at the mercy of every politican, professor, etc. that comes along.


: No, But that is not what you said. (none / 0) (#15)
by Edger on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 02:32:48 PM EST

Try to converse honestly today.
Your words were: K-12 is the place to educate children to the community's standards.
You said nothing even close to "read, write and do math".

Edger (none / 0) (#14)
by jimakaPPJ on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 02:23:51 PM EST

Do you know the magazine the statuette comes from??


: The url is on the bottom of the picture. (none / 0) (#21)
by Edger on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 06:00:17 PM EST

It's a model.

No brainer (none / 0) (#10)
by Slado on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 01:41:31 PM EST

If the book is produced by a government for propoganda purposes (which is the only way a book can emerge from Cuba post Castro) then it's a no brainer.

Book

The real question is why the heck the book was ever put on the shelves in the first place. More then likely it was put there by a partisan as a way to combat the community view that Castro is bad.

Why people on the left make excuses for a communist regime that stands against everything they say they are for amazes me.

Double standard (none / 0) (#23)
by Repack Rider on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 06:29:40 PM EST

George W. Bush stands against everything I am for. George W. Bush LOOOVES him some anti-democracy Saudi Arabian princes who subjugate women, loves invading countries that do not threaten us, loves giving money to already rich people, and hates the First and Fourth Amendments.

Cuba has universal health care, a lower infant death rate and a higher literacy rate than the United States. We sure don't want that health and literacy crap HERE.


Repack (none / 0) (#25)
by Wile ECoyote on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 06:55:20 PM EST

How about the benchmark of people leaving here to go to the great socialist model of Cuba compared to the people fleeing here to the evil free market of the US?

Additionally living in Cuba allows you to be free of deciding what to do with the money you have earned, what job to hold, what to study for in a career field and where to live. All decisions made courtesy of the govmint. Sounds delish!


Reading comprehension 101 (none / 0) (#26)
by Repack Rider on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 07:34:03 PM EST

I was responding to a post that stated that Cuba is against everything liberals are for. Cuba has plenty of deficiencies and it is certainly a repressive state, but as repression goes, it can't hold a candle to our "ally" Saudi Arabia, so any implication that we don't like Cuba merely because it is repressive is obviously bogus. We don't like them because they are repressive AND THEY DON'T HAVE OIL. Plus, Castro gives us the finger. The BASTARD!

What is it that you dislike about a health care system that outperforms ours? What is it that you dislike about near universal literacy?

As I pointed out, George W. also stands for a lot of things that I hate, and given the opportunity, he would be another Saddam or Castro or Kim Il Jong because he is a sociopath who has never cared about anyone but himself. Only our democratic tradition, which Bush is doing his best to destroy, keeps him from ordering summary executions like any other dictator.

I have to credit Cuba for what they do better than we do, and wonder how they do it with virtually no resources.

I have friends who try to send old pianos to Cuba (a charity called "Pianas to Havana"), and it isn't Castro who is keeping charity from reaching his citizens, it is our government.


: Cuba does have oil, but it is not very high (none / 0) (#27)
by oculus on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 07:38:26 PM EST

grade.

: Cuba certainly has (none / 0) (#28)
by Wile ECoyote on Fri Jun 08, 2007 at 05:43:33 AM EST

oil. They are exploiting it not more than ninety miles from out shores. You need to prove their health care system outperforms ours. I don't believe that. Now literacy I applaud them for that. I would wish that our school systems taught the three r's only and left out stuff like creationism, susy has two mommies, johnny has two daddies, teaching in different languages. Yup, stick to three r's, English only immersion, would be one step forward to beatting the commies once again.

if the book is geared to 2nd and 3rd graders (none / 0) (#11)
by Deconstructionist on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 01:56:06 PM EST

we have to start from the premise that it's going to necessarily be an "over-simplification" of reality. I'd find a difference between abook that merely glossed over harsher realities and one that misrepresented things.

A book for 7 year olds about visiting Cuba that only described a child visiting and experiencing what a small child would experience while remaining mostly oblivious to politics would seem fine. On the other hand, a book which falsely suggests things about the government and life in Cuba is a different story.

I'd like to do a side-by-side comparison with (none / 0) (#16)
by oculus on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 02:52:39 PM EST

a book in the same series about a child visiting the U.S. Should it include, for example, the Bush administration's end run around the U.S. Constitution?


: Or (none / 0) (#17)
by squeaky on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 02:59:14 PM EST

How badly dark skinned Cubans who made it to America are treated. The info that they get in Cuba is that the streets in the US are paved with gold and that they will be welcomed with open arms.

How dastardly to use smiling children... (none / 0) (#18)
by desertswine on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 04:01:52 PM EST

"School officials said the book includes images of smiling children wearing uniforms of a communist youth group..."

I found one here.

The text (none / 0) (#19)
by Alien Abductee on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 05:08:18 PM EST

of the book can be found here.

It seems to me to be clearly what the ACLU says, part of a very basic information level "apolitical geography series" for which injecting a political viewpoint would be inappropriate, since it's not part of the scope of the book.

But judge for yourselves. And let the book burnings begin.

: Thanks for the link (none / 0) (#20)
by Deconstructionist on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 05:18:48 PM EST

I see nothing remotely objectionable about what is written.

: Book is fine, although the (none / 0) (#24)
by oculus on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 06:53:50 PM EST

section on "homes" is very rosy. According to Lonely Planet, in Havana, each year post-Revolution, about 200 buildings collapse.

I haven't read the book... (none / 0) (#22)
by Repack Rider on Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 06:14:13 PM EST

And I have no idea about the content, but...

If the subject was creation v. evolution, the conservatives would be all for "teaching both sides of the controversey."