Let me get this straight. According to that article, those of us who did not go through US schooling system & thus did not read things you deem "canon" or "classics" are never going to be "educated enough". Got it. Nothing new here. But let me tell you a story... 1/

I just happen to know what "denying children access to literature" means. I grew up in Soviet Union, remember? My school reading lists were just that - classics/canon - whatever you call it. I liked some, & hated others (War & Peace, sorry!) Old stuff. Nothing contemporary. 2/

Which left me with no understanding of the society I lived in and complexities of modern times. Yes, I could recite poetry, discuss the characters and the plot of Crime & Punishment but there were no parallels drawn, no critical lens applied. These works stayed in the past. 3/

You'd argue that this was *the purpose* of soviet machine - avoiding present meant that no one will question it. Modern lit that did question the order was censored. We still passed the tattered stack of magazines w/One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich from fam2fam though. 4/

Not to mention that some of well-loved classic *children's* lit perpetuated xenophobia & racism while it was widely practiced by the state. What do you think these children - me included - internalized & had to unlearn? 5/

Unfortunately, many ended up brainwashed & continuing to perpetuate negative bias & hatred bc there were never ANY literature available that offered an alternative POV which questioned existing stereotypes. Hate is simple. Unlearning means questioning self & that's not easy. 6/

And of course, there was a b s o l u t e l y no foreign authors included in my curriculum. They were not readily available in book stores/libraries either. My grandma & my parents participated in newspaper recycling program to get coupons for books by foreign authors. 7/

As far as I remember myself, we had an extensive library of books that could not be found anywhere and developed a lending network with likeminded families. I was proud of our collection and - being an avid reader - often devoured full works of any given author on vacation. 8/

What's the problem, you may ask? Well, those authors were mainly British, French, or American - you guessed it - classics which left me with a very skewed vision of the societies that I read about. I cringe now that some of my favorites at the time were full of tropes. 9/

They were the only ones "allowed" in print by soviet state in limited quantities. This is what "denying children access to literature" means. That there are no books available beyond of what's deemed "acceptable" by whoever is in charge. 10/

The crew screaming that including modern lit & various perspectives is "banning books" is literally doing what Soviet state did - keeping the status quo by insisting that the canon be taught at schools. It's also racist to imply that those new books are of lesser quality/ 11

I was able to understand the limitations of my worldview once I came to US and even then, the Assimilate2ThinkLikeUS was so strong that I did it to fit in. Only after I began to read alternative narratives, I began to realize how limited my knowledge was. Still is. 12/

I would give everything to be able to go back and have a movement like #DisruptTexts challenge the books I read at school. I am eternally grateful to these brilliant women for the fact that my young son will encounter windows and sliding doors in his school lit choices. /end