Two years ago, Rapid City was at the epicenter of national story few communities want their name attached to – book banning. Two years later, advocates, educators and students say the future of literature is bright in the city.
A documentary film chronicles the path of books labeled as surplus property for destruction premiered Sunday night, along with a Q&A session with education, advocates, and students at the heart of the controversy.
The includes over three hundred copies of five different books--including How Beautiful We Were, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Girl, Woman Other, Fun Home, and The Circle. The books, designated as optional reads for senior students, dealt with imperialism, environmentalism, abuse, sexuality, and LGBT+ lifestyles.
A teacher featured in the documentary is Rapid City Stevens English teacher Sean Bradley. He said every single year he’s had at least one student with a queer or BIPOC identity.
“When we are in the classroom, we see in a very real way how marginalizing language and book banning effect our kids," Bradley said. "I’ve always approached it from the perspective of individual liberty. Why are you okay with the government telling you what you can or can’t do in this instance?”
One of those students is Shaun Hoeft, who said the situation was meaningfully frightening. Now graduated, the aspiring author said the closing pages of Perks of Being a Wallflower still makes him tear up.
“It is hard to understand just how many people there might be like you until you see it written down, because if you see some that says, ‘I think like this,’ and I think like you too – we are community together,” Hoeft said.
The panel says the election of new school board members, the support from authors, documentarians, and the community response has put Rapid City on a better path looking forward. A link to the free documentary, titled To Be Destroyed, can be found here.