AAPAC and its members are strongly opposed to making available in our schools or public libraries any books which are harmful to our children and/or are not age appropriate for sexual or other reasons (e.g. violence or drugs). We are also opposed to anyone attempting to impose their value system or beliefs on our children who attend the public schools (private schools are allowed to teach religion).
That being said, much of the recent book controversy and protests about the seven books in Dearborn Public Schools was clearly geared towards other political goals than protecting our children. We have seen the result of this, including the sudden appearance in our community of Republican candidates who have ethical issues of their own as they seek public office state wide.
AAPAC strongly believes in the right of every parent to choose what his or her kids are allowed to read in our public schools. That is why the school system has, and always had, a process by which parents may object to a book being made available to their children. In addition, Dearborn Public Schools allow parents oversight and specific access controls over books made available in schools or by request from the Wayne RESA catalog to their children. If this process is not followed or is not satisfactory, AAPAC and its members will be the first to engage the administration of the schools, as we have done about other issues in the past. Screaming at public meetings, throwing insults, or disparaging others with derogatory statements is not the way to go. Our community has spent decades fighting discrimination against us based on our culture and religion, and we will not stand idly by and watch as certain people or groups seek to discriminate against others, and give our community a bad image.