Rep. Gino Bulso’s proposal to name 10 official state books is peculiar and potentially unconstitutional. Here’s what lawmakers should do instead.
- David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee.
It’s ironic that at a time when state law allows for school curriculum and materials to be challenged, banned and removed that a Tennessee lawmaker wants to enshrine 10 works of literature, history, music and faith as the official books of Tennessee.
Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, filed House Bill 1828 to propose enshrining these books into the Tennessee Blue Book, which lists state government leaders, traditions and official symbols:
- Farewell Address to the American People, George Washington (1796)
- “Democracy in America,” Alexis de Tocqueville (1835 and 1840)
- Aitken Bible, Journals of Congress (1782)
- The Papers of Andrew Jackson, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
- “Roots,” Alex Haley (1977)
- “A Death in the Family,” James Agee (1958)
- “All the King’s Men,” Robert Penn Warren (1947)
- “American Lion,” Jon Meacham (2009)
- “The Civil War: A Narrative,” Shelby Foote (1958-1974)
- “Coat of Many Colors,” Dolly Parton (2016)