Forsyth County Georgia Board of Education - Jere Krischel - 4/19/2022

I am not a wizard. I do not have a lightning bolt scar on my forehead. I do not live on Privet Drive. Yet the tale of Harry Potter resonates deeply with me, and I see myself in that story, and in all of the characters.

Last month, a child spoke eloquently about how obsessed she was with the Harry Potter books. But then she demanded that our libraries include stories of and by people, based solely upon their superficial characteristics. Sadly, she missed the most important lessons we can learn from J.K. Rowling's works.

Spoiler alert, Dumbldore is gay. It has nothing to do with the plot, and nothing would change if he was straight. J.K. Rowling wrote an amazing, inclusive narrative that resonates with all people, and not once did she depict graphic sexual content. This doesn't erase gays, but it teaches us something profound - what sex you're attracted to is the least interesting thing about you. Wearing a badge of LGBTQIAAPXYZ tells us nothing important about you at all.

There are two universal truths we all grapple with. First, is that we all share a common humanity. Everyone has problems, and everyone craves love, even if the details differ. Everyone is going to suffer, and die. The grand narratives of humanity apply to all of us.

The other universal truth is that we are all unique individuals. There is no protagonist in any book that can perfectly represent you, unless that protagonist *is* you. There is no teacher that can perfectly represent you, unless you *are* that teacher. Every trans person lives a different life, every east indian person lives a different life, unique from all other people who you might group them with.

Some people try to find a middle ground between common humanity, and unique individuality - but this leads us to toxic tribalism, the worst of both worlds. It denies humanity to those outside our group, and it destroys our individuality by insisting we prioritize group identity over our own individual identity.

The demand that books be judged by the demographics of their authors, rather than by the value of their contents, is a consequence of this kind of bigotry. Instead of asking the question, "do these books in elementary and middle school libraries contain inappropriate sexual content", the woke will ask, "what victimhood group do the authors of these books belong to"?

I am an excessively open and tolerant parent - I talk about very explicit adult topics with my kids at ages that other parents might not. But that's my prerogative, not the school district's. It is reasonable for me to have the expectation, that I don't have to test every school water fountain for contaminants and diseases, and it is reasonable for others to have the expectation, that they don't have to review every book their child picks up in the library for filth. I might choose differently than others on when to raise adult topics with my children, but the choice belongs to parents, not hyper woke librarians, nor national organizations in other states with political agendas.

I understand the Board is working on the problem of age inappropriate books as fast as they can, but I'd like to ask them to commit to the principle that in the future, our school libraries will be as clean and safe as our drinking water. I'd also like them to commit to the principle that we should be encouraging our children to be able to see themselves in all others, from boring straight white males, to fancy interstellar wizards of color, rather than demanding token demographic role models.

Thank you very much for your time, and again, I'd love to have lunch with anyone who disagrees with me.