15: From Inclusion to Exclusion: How Post‑Truth School Restrictions in Utah Undermine Education for Democracy

On August 29, 2024, a celebration was underway at the Utah Capitol. The event included posters with large print at the front of the venue. Excerpts were taken from books evaluated as “objective sensitive material” through a statewide K‑12 book‑banning policy recently enacted into law. Some of the excerpts on display were from books already banned in schools, while others were from books under consideration for bans. Sticky notes covered portions of excerpts to avoid displaying text that might violate state obscenity laws (Nesbitt, 2024d).

A Utah State Board of Education member and Congressman Burgess Owens joined the celebration attendees. Owens remarked, “What’s seen here in these books is Marxist ideology that hates everything we stand for,” and he labeled banned books as “smut” (Nesbitt, 2024d). As is evident in much of the wording related to restrictions, the term “we” is assumed in opposition to “them.” Efforts by one group to impose its worldview on those with different experiences and perspectives are central to book‑banning projects and similar school restrictions. Statewide restrictions on content in schools have been persistent battles in Utah. The culminating celebration above illustrates how school restrictions have increased in specificity and codification in public policy and law. The boundaries between “us,” “them,” “normal,” and “abnormal” are built, reproduced, and enforced through school restrictions.