Julianne Moore Slams Censorship of Her Children’s Book ‘Freckleface Strawberry’ by Trump Administration
As if taking hold of the Kennedy Center and upending NEA grants wasn’t enough, the Trump Administration seems to be coming for Academy Award-winning actress and author Julianne Moore.
In a post on Instagram, Moore revealed that her 2007 children’s book, “Freckleface Strawberry,” was “banned” from schools operated by the Department of Defense. This came as a great “shock” to her considering the message of the novel is one of unity.
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“‘Freckleface Strawberry’ is a semi-autobiographical story about a seven year old girl who dislikes her freckles but eventually learns to live with them when she realizes that she is different ‘just like everybody else,'” Moore wrote. “It is a book I wrote for my children and for other kids to remind them that we all struggle, but are united by our humanity and our community.”
Moore added that even more hurtful for her was that she graduated from a DoD high school that once operated in Frankfurt, Germany, where her father was stationed.
“I grew up with a father who is a Vietnam veteran and spent his career in the #USArmy,” she said. “I could not be prouder of him and his service to our country.”
Despite this pride, Moore nonetheless finds the situation “galling,” especially for kids who now won’t be able to seek out material that reflects a life experience “similar to their own.”
“I can’t help but wonder what is so controversial about this picture book that cause it to be banned by the US Government,” Moore wrote in conclusion. “I am truly saddened and never thought I would see this in a country where freedom of speech and expression is a constitutional right.”
These new decrees of the Trump Administration were handed down through the U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), which announced on February 7 that it would remove and review “books potentially related to gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology topics” in DoD schools, and also work to end programs, activities, and holidays related to those topics. As per the military publication Stars and Stripes, many schools began enacting these policies immediately, with Wiesbaden Elementary School in Germany even going as far as removing a portrait of Michelle Obama painted on glass in honor of Black History Month.
In response, on Friday, Feb. 14, the American Library Association and the American Association of School Librarians released a joint statement denouncing these actions. It read, “DoDEA school libraries provide a wealth of information and resources to their communities. By ordering the removal and suppression of learning materials and activities in its schools and libraries, the DoDEA is engaging in censorship of legitimate views and opinions that violates the First Amendment rights of those who serve our nation and their families, thereby denying them the very freedoms they have pledged to protect with their lives.”
It continued, “These shameful censorship decrees erase history and silence the voices of Americans whose lives reflect the diversity of our nation. The brave people who defend us deserve to exercise the rights they protect, and their children deserve the right to read a broad array of materials and learn from a range of perspectives that reflect the abundance of ideas from all Americans. Military personnel, with input from school librarians and teachers who serve them, should be trusted to select the resources that meet their families’ information needs.”
According to a post shared by Pen America, in addition to Moore’s “Freckleface Strawberry,” another piece of material under “compliance review” is a picture book entitled “No Truth Without Ruth.” It was written by Kathleen Krull and covers the life of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The biography “Becoming Nicole,” written by Amy Ellis Nutt, was also featured amongst the books censored by the DoDEA. It tells the true story of transgender actor and activist Nicole Maines as her and her family, including her identical twin brother, start to understand and nurture her new gender identity.
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