“One of the most important roles of an elected board of education is to reflect the values of the community it serves. The McMinn County Board of Education voted to remove the graphic novel Maus from McMinn County Schools because of its unnecessary use of profanity and nudity and its depiction of violence and suicide. Taken as a whole, the Board felt this work was simply too adult-oriented for use in our schools. We do not diminish the value of Maus as an impactful and meaningful piece of literature, nor do we dispute the importance of teaching our children the historical and moral lessons and realities of the Holocaust.”

“To the contrary, we have asked our administrators to find other works that accomplish the same educational goals in a more age-appropriate fashion. The atrocities of the Holocaust were shameful beyond description, and we all have an obligation to ensure that younger generations learn of its horrors to ensure that such an event is never repeated. We simply do not believe that this work is an appropriate text for our students to study,” says the McMinn County, Tennessee School Board in a statement, as if a book about the Holocaust is supposed to be free of violence and adult content.

There is no “age-appropriate” for this once a kid is older than 14 or 15. There’s no point in indulging this bullshit beyond that, because as we said, we all know the real reason Maus is being banned from that school district. Would love to know if they still carry Huckleberry Finn.