Dear Dr. Epps:

The National Writers Union represents 4,300 freelance writers nationwide: journalists, book authors, poets, business and technical writers, academics, cartoonists and workers in other genres. Our membership comprises some of the most distinguished names in American letters.

One distinguished member is Luis J. Rodriguez of the Chicago local. Luis is the son of Mexican immigrants who at 12 was the veteran of East Los Angeles gang warfare. He has written a powerful book, Always Running, in hopes that young people may benefit from his experiences with gang violence. In his words, "I did this because I don't want to see children killed anymore. I've seen too many go." We are proud that Always Running won the Carl Sandburg Literary Arts Award and also received lavish praise from Jonathan Kozol, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The National Catholic Reporter.

We are saddened and astounded that Always Running is now a banned book within the Rockford School system, due to a 4-3 school-board vote on June 11 to pull it from library shelves. We are confident that you, as an educator, share our concerns.

We are also offended that board member David Strommer publicly called the book "irreligious, anti-family, left wing, anti-American and radical" and also said, "What's in the book is harmful, ungodly and wrong." Such uninformed character assassination does nothing to advance discourse and reflects poorly on the Rockford school system.

Moreover, we are disturbed by board member Ed Sharp's assertion that "I challenge anyone who knows how the mind works, after reading this book, not to be more likely to assume the lifestyle of a gang person and not to be more likely to have sex in the back of a car." Applying Mr. Sharp's reasoning, one might as well ban the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous in order to discourage drunkenness!

All censors believe that some ideas are so dangerous they must be suppressed. But education's aim is not to condition young people into political correctness, but rather to challenge them to think for themselves. Books such as Always Running are invaluable tools.

The notion that we should control what people do by controlling what they think, and that we should control what they think by limiting what they can read, contradicts the two essential premises of free and democratic societies: (1) that people have the right to unfettered access to information and (2) that people are responsible for their own actions. Mr. Sharp's argument is fundamentally unAmerican and the board's action is Constitutionally illegal.

Recently, we followed a similar case in Olathe, Kansas, where the school board removed the book Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden. The board wasted an enormous amount of the taxpayer's money unsuccessfully fighting a lawsuit brought by students, parents, and teachers. Last November, Judge G. Thomas Van Bebber ruled against the board, saying "Although local school boards have broad discretion in the management of school affairs, they must act within Constitutional limits." Bebber cited the 1982 Supreme Court decision, Board of Education v. Pico: "local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books and seek by their removal to prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion or other matters of opinion."

I'm sure you agree that the Rockford School Board's authority does not exceed that of the US Constitution. Please do what you can to rescind this unfortunate decision. Sometimes well-meaning people are temporarily persuaded by fallacious arguments. We hope that this is the case for at least one board member. The banning of Always Running is a public embarrassment to the Rockford School District and an affront to educated people everywhere.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Tasini, President

cc: Luis Rodriguez; Susan Telingator, Chair NWU Chicago Local; Judith Krug, American Library Association; David Mendoza, National Campaign for Freedom of Expression; Anne Green, People for the American Way; Marjorie Heins, ACLU; Leanne Katz, National Coalition Against Censorship; other members of the Free Expression Network; Richard Vargas, Rock River Times; Wayne Peterson, Rockford Register Star; other members of the press.