(JTA) — A school district in central Texas has removed “The Devil’s Arithmetic,” a classic young-adult novel dealing with the Holocaust, after reviewing books for material that could violate a new state law forbidding “DEI” classroom content.
The novel was one of dozens to be removed after Leander Independent School District, in a suburb of Austin, undertook its review in part by using artificial intelligence.
Leander ISD is far from the first district to remove books on Jewish subjects amid a dragnet targeting diversity- or LGBTQ-related themes. Over the last few years, districts in Texas, Florida and beyond have pulled versions of Anne Frank’s diary; “Maus”; “The Fixer”; and other Jewish books. Recently another Texas school district, covering the Houston suburb of Rosenberg, placed hundreds of books “under review” for potential violation of a different state law — including both “Maus” books and “Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation.”…