I was shocked to discover that our local library, the Nashua Public Library, has the book “Not My Idea: A Book about Whiteness” by Anastasia Higginbotham in the children’s room.
The library staff thinks it is appropriate for any child who is old enough to browse for books alone to pick up and read how “Whiteness is a bad deal.” On Amazon, 40% of the reviews are 1-star.
The burning cross on the cover is a nice touch for scaring impressionable children into thinking the KKK is running rampant lynching black people. The placement of the cross next to an American flag could easily lead to the two symbols being conflated in their young minds.
The introduction invites children to “dismantle white supremacy.”
She informs her young readers that “whiteness is a bad deal” and “we can see your pointy tail.”
She brings it all together by implying that white people have sold their souls to the devil so they could take advantage of people of color.
I talked to the children’s librarian at the Nashua Public Library and she expressed much enthusiasm for this book telling me how concerned she was when it went missing for several months and how thankful she was that the library replaced it.
Nashua parents beware what is going in the children’s room in our library. It is no longer a safe place for your children to be unsupervised.
