Two journalists came to a Memphis high school in anticipation of discussing their Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “His Name is George Floyd.” However, just days before the event, they say they were told not to even read from it because of an anti-CRT regulation enforced by the school.
Authors Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa told NBC they were invited to speak at an event at Whitehaven High School on Oct. 26, but were blindsided by last-minute restrictions on what they could and couldn’t say about their book. Discussion topics could have been anything from systemic racism in policing to the uproar for racial justice following Floyd’s death — all talking points banned by 2021 Tennessee legislation that protects white parents from confronting their white privilege.
The authors told the assembly of students, which is 95 percent Black per Public School Review, that they were unable to share much about the book, so instead spent most of the time discussing their own experiences.
“I was thinking about the great disservice that they’re giving these students who deserve better. I thought about my personal disappointment and feelings of naïveté that despite all the work Tolu and I had done to make sure the book would be written in a way that was accessible to them, a larger system decided that they were going to take it away,” Samuels said via NBC.
Read the district’s response from NBC News:
Cathryn Stout, a spokeswoman for Memphis-Shelby County Schools, told NBC News the situation stemmed from miscommunication. Stout said school officials never placed any restrictions on what Samuels and Olorunnipa could say or read at the event. The only issue was providing the book to students at the event which, due to state and district regulations, would require a lengthy review before the school could distribute the title.
“Memphis-Shelby County Schools did not send any messaging that said the authors could not read an excerpt from the book. Memphis-Shelby County Schools also did not send any messaging that said the authors could not discuss systematic racism or topics related to the death of George Floyd,” Stout said. She added that the district was “saddened and disappointed” when they learned the authors “were given misinformation that was said to have come from us.”
Stout said the school did not have enough time to properly review the book for distribution in accordance with district protocol and Tennessee state law.
Who’s to say the district would have approved the book after a review anyway? Floyd’s death, along with the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, preceded the nationwide debacle over how students should learn about the country’s history of racism.
Now, students who have fathers and uncles resembling Floyd are being cheated out of learning why his death was so pivotal in reigniting the call against police brutality and racial injustice.