George Dawson Middle School in Texas banned book written by author of the same name?

Claim:

At George Dawson Middle School in Texas, an autobiography co-written by George Dawson, the grandson of an enslaved person, was banned.

Judgement:

Context

In 2022, a school district in Texas, where a high school is named after the author, flagged a chapter of the book “Life Is So Good,” co-authored by George Dawson, as inappropriate for some age groups. The district allowed the book to be used in the classroom with “teacher direction.” Neither the book nor its contents were banned.

George Dawson Middle School, named for the grandson of an enslaved person who learned to read at age 98, is said to have banned a book written by the man the school was named after. This rumor has appeared in social media posts since 2022, including a post on Reddit that was shared with over 60,000 upvotes that year.

The claim arose from media reporting by major outlets such as CNN, Business Insider and HuffPost. A North Texas school district that includes George Dawson Middle School has reportedly banned the book “Life Is So Good,” co-authored by Dawson, according to social media posts.

However, it is incorrect to say that the book or its contents are banned. Instead, some portions of the content were flagged as inappropriate for certain age groups, and the district determined that the book must be accompanied by “teacher-led instruction” when used in the classroom.

“’Life is So Good,’ the book written about the life and legacy of George Dawson, is NOT banned,” Carroll Independent School District said in an email to Snopes on October 8, 2024.

North Texas television news station KDFW-TV first reported on August 24, 2022 that Carroll ISD in Southlake, northwest of Dallas, was reviewing portions of the book “to see if it is appropriate to teach at the George Dawson Middle School” after a The seventh grade teacher requested the title for use in the class readings.

The autobiography details Dawson’s firsthand account of 20th century America, from “segregation and civil rights to the wars, presidents and defining moments in history” as described by Goodreads. Most notably, Dawson, the grandson of an enslaved person, learned to read at the age of 98.

In an email to Snopes, the school district confirmed that “nothing from the book was prohibited.” Instead, a teacher was “asked to facilitate an age-appropriate discussion of sensitive content in one chapter of the book.”

The school district also confirmed that the “book will be available for reading within Dawson Middle School beginning in October 2024 through today.”

Carroll ISD provided this 2022 statement outlining how school districts in Texas determine content for their students. It said:

School districts are governed by policies that oversee curriculum content and instructional materials, which determine how best to determine the age and content of students. Lately there has been hyper-charged rhetoric in the media about the ‘book ban’ and what content is and is not suitable for students of different ages.

1. Carroll ISD has a policy, EFA (Local) for Instructional Materials, which allows for a formal challenge process (i.e. Book Challenge Process) of instructional materials and oversight by the Board of Trustees of the materials for which purchase is requested.
2. With the implementation of local policies, CISD has an internal curriculum review process for our teachers’ requested instructional materials for use in the classrooms. This process reviews all required literature for age and content appropriateness for all subject areas and grade levels. The Curriculum Review of Required Reading process is conducted during the summer months by a district team consisting of teachers, principals and curriculum coordinators.

It is through these two layers of review by the faculty and administration that provide eligibility for our students.

Ahead of the 2022 school year, “Life is So Good” was discussed along with other books requested for classroom readings. The district determined that one chapter’s content was inappropriate for seventh-grade students, although it did not specify which chapter. Educators were allowed to use the book with “teacher-directed instruction,” where they can “facilitate the delivery of sensitive content while still delivering the author’s message,” the school district wrote.

In 2023, the US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Accountability acknowledged the incident, stating:

One book, Life is so goodthe true story of George Dawson, the grandson of a slave who learned to read at age 98 and for whom a district high school is named, was submitted for review because teachers feared they would be reprimanded for teaching in class.

PEN America, a nonprofit that tracks book bans in the U.S., did not include “Life Is So Good” in its most recent index of banned textbooks, which runs from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.

Sources