President Joe Biden condemns targeting teachers and warns against banning books|Gage Skidmore|CC BY-SA 2.0
President Joe Biden on Wednesday said the country’s teachers are being constantly targeted in "culture wars".
He also warned against banning books that address racism and LGBTQ issues.
President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden attended the annual 2022 National and State Teachers of the Year award ceremony to honor Ohio history teacher Kurt Russell—the 2022 National Teacher of the Year.
At the ceremony, the President shared his personal story of how his teachers helped him overcome stuttering.
Are teachers and books the target now?
During his speech, Biden praised American teachers for their importance and dedication to the profession and requested to not make them a target in the culture wars.
Biden pointed out that politicians are banning books to score "political points."
“Did you ever think when you were teaching you’d be worrying about book burning and banning books all because it doesn’t fit someone’s political agenda?” the President said while talking about the ban on books related to racism and LGBTQ issues.
According to PEN America, more than 1000 books that address racism, slavery, and LGBTQ issues have been removed from school libraries.
