CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOL Hypocrites Ban Acclaimed Comic PERSEPOLIS From Required Reading
On Wednesday, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) were told to remove the critically acclaimed graphic novel Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, from their libraries. Teachers, parents, and students formed in alliance and planned a protest held on Friday. By early Friday afternoon, a statement was released by CPS CEO Barbara Gyrd-Bennett saying the book would not be banned from the libraries but would no longer be allowed on the required reading list for seventh graders “Due to the powerful images of torture in the book”. She also said that the district needed to determine if, “after appropriate teacher training,” the book can be taught to grades 8-10.
Persepolis is one of my favorite graphic novels of all time. It has received acclaim from nearly everyone who has read it and is often 
compared to Maus. The 2007 animated version of Persepolis was even nominated for an Academy Award. This story is about of a young child growing up during the Iranian Revolution, breaking through many of the stereotypes surrounding Iran. One of only three non-Arab countries in the Middle East (along with Israel and Turkey), Persian life is much more complex than the two stereotypes often portrayed- The religious extremist or the poor, oppressed victim. This book is a heartfelt story of family, love, and growing up during a time of political turmoil.
The torture scene that CPS is so wary of, occurs in only one panel of the book. Satrapi told the Chicago Tribune, “I don’t think American kids of seventh grade have not seen any signs of violence. Seventh-graders have brains and they see all kinds of things on cinema and the Internet. It’s a black and white drawing and I’m not showing something extremely horrible. That’s a false argument. They have to give a better explanation.”
After reading about this, I decided to look at what other “wholesome” books the kiddos in Chicago were reading. I found the list of required reading on the Chicago Public Schools website. One of the required readings was the chapter “Indian Education” from the book The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist fight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie. This chapter includes a tale of a young girl experiencing her first kiss, and is then raped by her step-parents. They also have to read The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. In this book, the main character is attacked by a group of boys and then sexually assaulted while being told, “I love you, I love you, Spanish girl.” I then read an excerpt for another required reading, Bad Boy by Walter Dean Myers. Right away, I found the author mention LYNCHING!!!! Oh no!
So now I am wondering, why Persepolis was banned, but not the other readings? I personally find torture pretty disturbing, but I also find rape to be a horrible revolting act. Plus, isn’t the public murder of an African American a form of torture, too? I sure think so. So are they just idiots? Is this more of the stupidity of the belief that Graphic Novels are not a true literary form? Is it possible that Persepolis did not portray the ignorant stereotype of Iran that the school system wanted to portray? Were they threatened by the possibility of empathy? Or maybe, they don’t think that the rape of a Mexican teenager is as bad as torture? Maybe, the public murder of a Black man is not as gruesome as the torture of a Persian? What do you think?
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Jay Deitcher, LMSW(@mrdeitcher) is an educator on comic history and runs successful Free Comic Book Day events yearly. You can see a listing of his incredible articles and his highly energetic videos here.
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