[“His story is his story. He went through racism. It’s
something that can’t be changed,” Clementes son, Roberto Clemente
Jr., told NBC News.]
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ROBERTO CLEMENTE BOOK REMOVED FROM FLORIDA PUBLIC SCHOOLS  
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Nicole Acevedo
February 10, 2023
NBC News
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_ “His story is his story. He went through racism. It’s something
that can’t be changed,” Clemente's son, Roberto Clemente Jr., told
NBC News. _

Roberto Clemente, pictured here in 1966, often denounced racism and
spoke publicly about his experiences as a Black Latino climbing the
baseball ranks during the civil rights movement, Bettmann Archive

 

A book about late Afro-Puerto Rican MLB legend Roberto Clemente can't
be found in the shelves of public school libraries in Florida's Duval
County these days.

“Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates” by Jonah
Winter and Raúl Colón — and other books about Latino figures such
as the late Afro-Cuban salsa singer Celia Cruz and Justice Sonia
Sotomayor — are among the more than 1 million titles that have been
"covered or stored and paused for student use” at the Duval County
Public Schools District, according to Chief Academic Officer Paula
Renfro [[link removed]].

School officials are in the process of determining if such books
comply with state laws and can be included in school libraries.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed laws last year that require schools
to rely on certified media specialists to approve
[[link removed]] which
books can be integrated into classrooms. Guidance on how that would be
implemented was provided to schools in December.

Books must align with state standards 
[[link removed]]such
as not teach K-3 students about gender identity and sexual
orientation; not teach critical race theory
[[link removed]],
which examines systemic racism in American society, in public grade
schools
[[link removed]];
and not include references to pornography and
discrimination, according to the school district
[[link removed]].

In January, 52 certified media specialists for Duval started reviewing
about 1.5 million book titles, Sonya Duke-Bolden, a spokesperson with
the public schools district told NBC News Friday. Close to 2,800 books
have been approved by media specialists so far. Duke-Bolden did not
say if more books were reviewed but not approved.

PEN America, a nonprofit group that advocates for free expression in
literature, said in December that 176 elementary school books
[[link removed]] from their Essential Voices
collection were among the titles removed from Duval County public
school libraries.

The organization said the books removed included some substituted
titles and more than 100 deemed to have “content too mature
[[link removed]] for
the grade level for which they were included in that collection.”

Duke-Bolden said that 47 substituted titles, which were swapped in for
books in the Essential Voices collection that were unavailable, were
sent back. Of the more than 170 books, "106 were deemed to be useful
for our reading goals and have been distributed to classrooms" while
26 others remain under review.

"Note that even though a title may appear to be appropriate, we must
evaluate each book’s full content for its age-level appropriateness
and full compliance with Florida law," Duke-Bolden added.

Of the books removed from Duval County, more than 30 were by Latino
authors and illustrators or centered Latino characters and narratives.
Among these were “Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa” by Veronica Chambers
and Julie Maren, “Sonia Sotomayor (Women Who Broke the Rules
Series)” by Kathleen Krull and Angela Dominguez, and Winter's
Clemente book.

["Robert Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates" by Jonah Winter,
illustrated by Raúl Colón.]

"Robert Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates" by Jonah Winter,
illustrated by Raúl Colón.Atheneum Books for Young Readers via Simon
and Schuster

The son of the Pittsburgh Pirates player, Roberto Clemente Jr., told
NBC News he owns the book, which was written for children K-3.

"His story is his story. He went through racism. It's something that
can't be changed," Clemente Jr. said. "But obviously, for the younger
students, if it's something that they feel is too much for them, they
might be able to utilize a different book with the same story, but
it's framed differently for them, for that for that age group."

Clemente Jr. added that he expects his father's life story and legacy
to empower people of all ages.

LatinoJustice PRLDEF, a Latino civil rights organization based in New
York, blasted the school district in Duval for removing the Clemente
book over its "references to racism and discrimination."

“Learning about Clemente’s achievements, his pride in his
Afro-Boricua identity and his struggles with racism and discrimination
would provide needed insight on historical conditions in the U.S., and
inspiration for the majority Black and Latino student population in
Duval County schools," Lourdes Rosado, president and general counsel
at LatinoJustice PRLDEF, said in a statement.

"We urge the school district to restore this book and others that
shine a light on the experiences of exemplary people in our country
who have contributed greatly to our society and culture," Rosado said.
"Our children deserve to understand the full scope of our society’s
flaws and strengths.” 

Clemente died in 1972, when his plane crashed off the coast of Puerto
Rico as he was delivering relief supplies to earthquake victims in
Nicaragua. He was 38.

His humanitarian efforts are perhaps his greatest legacy in addition
to his professional baseball career. Clemente became a
posthumous Baseball Hall of Famer
[[link removed]], with
exactly 3,000 hits, four National League batting titles, 12 Gold
Gloves, an MVP award, two World Series championships and 15 All-Star
appearances.

Clemente often denounced racism and discrimination in his native
Spanish language, and he spoke publicly about his experiences as a
Black Latino climbing the baseball ranks during the civil rights
movement. He even spoke about political and social issues alongside
Martin Luther King Jr.

"The book on Roberto Clemente is pending review," Duke-Bolden said.
She couldn't immediately share the review status on the books about
Cruz and Sotomayor. 

Cruz, known as the Queen of Salsa, was one of the 20th century’s
most celebrated Latin music artists
[[link removed]].
Sotomayor is the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve
[[link removed]] on
the Supreme Court.

Clemente Jr. and his family are waiting to see what happens with the
book about the baseball great and plan on reaching out to the school
district some time next week.

"We need to continue to figure out how to continue that conversation
and unifying our cultures and nationalities," he said.

Nicole Acevedo
[[link removed]] is a
reporter for NBC News Digital. She reports, writes and produces
stories for NBC Latino and NBCNews.com. Twitter.
[[link removed]]

* Roberto Clemente
[[link removed]]
* baseball
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* racial discrimination
[[link removed]]
* Florida
[[link removed]]

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