"TEW_20181117_2RL3351_1920" by TED Conference is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Florida school restricts access to Amanda Gorman poem after parent complains

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Officials at an elementary school in Florida have restricted access to “The Hill We Climb,” a poem shared by Amanda Gorman at Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential inauguration.

Poet Amanda Gorman speaks during a TED event. "TEW_20181117_2RL3351_1920" by TED Conference is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Poet Amanda Gorman speaks during a TED event. “TEW_20181117_2RL3351_1920” by TED Conference is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

The poem was published as a short book, and previously available to elementary students at a school in Miami-Dade, Florid until one parent reportedly filed a formal objection about the book’s content to school officials.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools have since moved Gorman’s book to the middle school section of the library.

The Hill We Climb” was among three books pulled from the school’s library.

On Tuesday, Gorman responded to the controversial decision on Instagram, saying she was “gutted.”

The book restriction is the latest after increasing calls from parents and groups to remove books related to Black history and LGBTQ subject matter in Florida.

Penguin Random House, the book’s publisher, has already joined a lawsuit with PEN America against one Florida school district to fight restrictions they say are unconstitutional.

More about the book ban can be found here.

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