Less than a week after the U.S. Naval Academy removed 381 books and literary works from its library, a local Annapolis book club staged a reading of one of the removed books at Annapolis City Dock.
The Annapolis Book Club, a small group of about a dozen members, read “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Literarian Award recipient Maya Angelou at Susan Campbell Park on Saturday in response to hundreds of books removed from the U.S. Naval Academy’s library last week as part of a review of diversity, equity, and inclusion materials.
“Like so many people, I was dismayed to learn that the Naval Academy banned this wonderful book,” Tracey Ernst, member of the book club and one of the event organizers, said in an email Friday. “‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ is an American classic. I do not pretend to know why the Naval Academy leadership banned this work, but I do know it’s wrong. I felt compelled to do something.”
The group began reading Angelou’s autobiography at 9 a.m. Saturday. The reading would have coincided with the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Parade and festival; however, the parade was rescheduled for May 10 due to inclement weather and “soggy conditions,” according to a city news release.
In March, the Naval Academy announced it would no longer consider race, sex or ethnicity as factors for admission, a response to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, according to federal court documents. The order said that “every element of the Armed Forces should operate free from any preference based on race or sex.” It also directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who visited the Naval Academy a week before the mass book removal, to conduct an internal review of “activities designed to promote a race or sex-based preferences system,” including at the service academies.
In March, the Naval Academy said it wasn’t going to remove instructional materials and library books featuring “gender ideology” as it wasn’t affected by orders to do so; however, plans changed when Pentagon leaders ordered the Naval Academy to conduct the review and removal, according to the Associated Press.
The Naval Academy accidentally removed a display honoring Jewish women alumni at its Jewish temple during its review and removal before returning the items.
The U.S. Naval Academy did not return a request for comment.
“I’m glad that the Annapolis book club is putting this on. I think the response to book bans like this needs to be to come together and recognize that simply banning books isn’t going to make the history that they discuss or the stories that they tell not true, and collectively coming together and recognizing that and ensuring that the truth that is presented and the important stories that are told in some of these books carries on is an important thing in these turbulent times,” said Del. Dylan Behler, who represents Annapolis in the General Assembly.
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