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I suppose it was bound to happen.

Complaints against certain books—almost invariably addressing LGBTQ experiences and racism—have mushroomed in the past couple of years.

In a 2021 report, the American Library Association documented “an unprecedented uptick” in book bans and challenges.

Green Hillsdale historical marker with downtown street in background — Photo Credit: MLive.com

They found that in one three-month period in 2021, 330 challenges were reported. That is more than double the entire number of challenges in 2020. In total, 729 challenges that included 1,597 books were reported in 2021.

The American Library Association said that these complaints were “orchestrated by conservative parent groups and right-wing media that targeted books about race, gender, and LGBTQIA+ issues for removal from public and school library shelves and, in some cases, included threats of book burning.”

No Books on Politics or Activism

Given the concerted effort by conservatives, it’s not a surprise that my third book, How to Fight Racism Young Readers Edition, would end up on a proposed list of books to ban.

According to the periodical Bridge Michigan, a local library board member in Hillsdale, Michigan named Joshua Paladino, sent a message to Hillsdale residents alleging that the “city’s library director has begun to fill the library with CRT, LGBT and sexually promiscuous books and displays.”

Paladino went on to write, “I want age-appropriate curation practices, meaning no politics, activism, or sexual content in the children’s section.”

Among other books, Paladino included my book as an example of a book that should be stripped from the local library’s shelves.

Cover of How To Fight Racism Young Readers Edition

Presumably How to Fight Racism was included in the banned books list because it is about “politics” and “activism.”

How to Fight Racism Young Readers Edition does indeed encourage young people to realize their own agency in standing up for racial justice and opposing racism whenever they encounter it.

The book walks through some of our nation’s history regarding racism and gives them a framework for fighting against racism in the present day.

Conservatives have long objected to any concepts that explain racism as more than merely someone’s personal feelings toward another individual. They often oppose any suggestion that racism can be built into systems and policies.

So my books and other writings which explain both the individual and systemic manifestations of racism, frequently come under fire.

So far the board has not formally taken action to remove any books, and librarians as well as local citizens have vigorously objected to limiting the intellectual breadth and diversity of perspectives in their public library holdings.

The Anti-CRT Industrial Complex

While the attempt to ban books at a local library is disconcerting enough, further research revealed that the person behind the list is just one small part of a much larger phenomenon.

Joshua Paladino has links with the conservative anti-CRT industrial complex—an intricate web of institutional and interpersonal connections formed with the objective of instituting an authoritarian, anti-democratic regime in the United States, often in the name of Christianity.

Paladino is two-time graduate of Hillsdale College which is in the same city where he serves on the local library’s board of directors.

Hillsdale College has branded itself as one of the most conservative Christian institutions of higher education in the country. Along with other schools such as Grove City College, Hillsdale does not accept any federal funding in order to avoid and certain compliance rules and oversight by the government.

Paladino is currently a PhD candidate at Hillsdale College in a program called the Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship.

The school’s website says it promotes an “education rooted in American constitutionalism” and a “classical” course of studies that focuses on “the core texts and original documents of the Western and American political traditions.”

Steve Van Andel, for whom the graduate school is named is the billionaire co-chair of the Board of Directors and former co-CEO of Amway (short for “American Way”), a large direct sales corporation. He is also a board member at Hillsdale College.

Steve’s father, Jay Van Andel, co-founded Amway in 1959 with a man named Rich DeVos. The partnership continues into the next generation as Steve has shared leadership responsibilities at Amway with Rich DeVos’s son, Doug DeVos.

The DeVos name may sound familiar because Betsy DeVos served as the head of the U.S. Department of Education under former president Donald Trump.

DeVos was frequently criticized for her policies as leader of the Department of Ed., especially her promotion of charter schools and voucher programs which would have used public funds for private—often conservative Christian—schools.

Hillsdale Charter Schools

Hillsdale College itself has been in the news of late. The governor of Tennessee, Bill Lee, has expressed his desire for the Hillsdale charter school network expand to his state.

The charter schools use the “The Hillsdale 1776 curriculum” which is the “product of Hillsdale College professors and some of the very best K-12 teachers, both past and present…”

The Hillsdale 1776 curriculum, viewed by many as a rebuttal to The 1619 Project, contends that the United States is “an exceptionally good country.” It also promotes a “classical” education and Governor Lee wants to bring 50 Hillsdale charter schools to Tennessee to disseminate that course of study.

The Hillsdale charter schools are not owned or managed by Hillsdale College, but the person who leads the charter network, Kathleen O’Toole, is the daughter of Hillsdale College president Larry Arrn.

A Coordinated Conservative Agenda

The connections to Hillsdale College, the billionaire Van Andel and the DeVos families help explain why a local library board member like Josh Paladino would propose a list of books to be banned and why my book for youth on how to fight racism would be included.

Paladino seems to have absorbed the current hysteria around what some call Critical Race Theory--a specialized field of legal studies that, in the hands of the anti-CRT industrial complex, has become shorthand for any type of racial discourse that conservatives dislike.

These deep connections in the conservative world of Christianity and politics may even explain why Paladino wanted to be on the Board in the first place.

A coordinated conservative agenda is trying to prevent meaningful racial progress. The participants are organized, on-message, and determined.

The more we expose and understand this web of conservative connections, the more equipped we will be to oppose their repressive tactics and promote racial justice.

What signs of the anti-CRT industrial complex have you observed nationally or in your local context? Leave a comment below.

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Footnotes by Jemar Tisby

How an Attempt to Ban Books in Hillsdale…