Yesterday afternoon, students at Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago took to the streets outside to protest the school district’s position on Persepolis.The acclaimed graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, which details her own coming-of-age in revolutionary Iran, was ordered removed from schools and school libraries earlier this week, reportedly after an ordering snafu.It later turned out that story was false, and that the school district had actually moved to remove the award-winning graphic novel as a result of concerns about its content.”The Chicago Public School district has issued an ambiguous statement regarding the present and future availability of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis to students,” the book’s publisher, Knopf Doubleday, told ComicBook.com. “Persepolis is a coming of age memoir about a girl in her early teens. The book has been read and taught in school districts across the country, without caveat or condition. In addition, Marjane has met with students across the country, including students in Chicago. The fact that Chicago is trying to limit this book’s use in classrooms and curriculums, suggesting teachers need guidance before they can discuss it, smacks of censorship.”After pressure from the public began to mount, Chicago Public Schools executives clarified their stance, saying that the book was to remain in school libraries, but would be removed from the seventh grade curriculum and placed “under review” for grades eight through ten.In response, a number of educational and free speech organizations have written a letter to the Chicago Public Schools to protest the decision, and a group of students at Lane Tech organized a protest in support of the book and in opposition to censorship in schools.
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