“Maus” author: McMinn County School Board decision to remove book is “about control”

The controversy surrounding the McMinn County School Board with its unanimous vote to remove Art Spiegelman’s book “Maus” from its eighth grade curriculum made international news a few weeks ago. On Monday night, Spiegelman spoke to people in McMinn County and plainly explained that decision isn’t about what age kids should learn certain topics.

“This is about control … controlling one’s authority as a parent, thinking you’re better informed on how to teach than somebody with several Master’s degrees, who thought carefully on what they’re teaching and how to teach it. And, it’s the arrogance that comes with wanting to say, ‘I want to have authority here.’ Because authoritarians like authority!,” a defiant Spiegelman told the Zoom audience.

Spiegelman made it quite clear that the ramifications of not allowing kids to understand the atrocities of the Holocaust, or any heavy topic, doesn’t just harm the students of McMinn County. It also helps to drive teachers out of the industry.

“To make that job more hobbled so they all flee to jobs as waitresses and waiters because it’s better pay is tragic, and that’s where we’re headed, and the school board decision is helping that happen.”

The author explained that the controversy is helping to put the book in more hands across America. More than ten thousand people registered to watch Spiegelman’s Zoom session.

“School board, you need to learn. This is proof that your opinions are hardly universal, that your attitudes need re-thinking more than your kids do.”

The next McMinn County School Board meeting is Thursday night. There may not be ten thousand people ready to confront the board that day, but a group already has plans to make their voices heard – and it could get loud.