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Tennessee Republican state Representative Jerry Sexton is facing heavy criticism after he declared during a debate in the state's House of Representatives he would "burn" library books he found "obscene."
His comments came after he was asked by Democratic state Representative John Ray Clemmons what he plans to do with the books that would be in direct violation of Sexton's proposed amendment to House Bill 2666.
When the bill passed the Tennessee Senate earlier this month, it seemed rather straightforward.
The bill proposed adding members to Tennessee's textbook commission, positions that would empower them to consult school districts and ensure materials under their review are "appropriate for the age and maturity levels" of students.
However, both librarians and parents have pushed back against the legislation after lawmakers introduced an amendment that would require the commission to issue a list of "approved" materials Tennessee schools could provide their students, sparking concerns about much wider censorship.
It was that amendment that informed Clemmons' question to Sexton.
You can watch their exchange in the video below.
TN state Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D) asks Rep. Jerry Sexton (R) what he would want to do with the books that he finds "obscene" if House Bill 2666, the school censorship bill he co-sponsors, is enacted into law.\n\nSexton: "I would burn them."pic.twitter.com/DNMhTzWpmj— Heartland Signal (@Heartland Signal) 1651084219
Clemmons asked:
"Let's say you take these books out of the library—what are you going to with them?"
"You gonna put 'em on the street? Light 'em on fire? Where are they going?"
Sexton issued the following matter-of-fact response:
"I don't have a clue, but I would burn 'em."
Sexton's admission angered many who accused Republicans of handicapping public education as conservatives have ramped up their campaigns to arbitrarily limit the content teachers can present in their classrooms.
It was always just a matter of time before @GOP would want to burn the books. They're coming for our schools and they're coming for the books. \n\nCc #Virginia @GovernorVA @JasonMiyaresVA @VA_GOP https://twitter.com/HeartlandSignal/status/1519383457054478339\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/JrT0Vj4Eoi— Aryeh \u05d0\u05e8\u05d9\u05d4 \u963f\u8449 (@Aryeh \u05d0\u05e8\u05d9\u05d4 \u963f\u8449) 1651153162
MAGA Republicans are making plans to burn books\u2014you can't make this up.https://twitter.com/HeartlandSignal/status/1519383457054478339?s=20&t=LRWFGjIDs-Ei5g4fiNr_jw\u00a0\u2026— CAP Action (@CAP Action) 1651151040
Why do people equate the GOP with Nazis? Maybe because they have the same go to ideas?https://twitter.com/kkruesi/status/1519364632082894848\u00a0\u2026— spot (@spot) 1651082229
Screaming about how their freedom of speech is being oppressed while they burn books. Their freedom isn't under threat - their domination is. Fascists can't function any other way.\n\nThese people are becoming more and more detached--https://www.rawstory.com/republican-book-burning/\u00a0\u2026— Bitch Pudding (@Bitch Pudding) 1651152199
Trumplicans keep screaming about free speech on a privately owned platform, while advocating book burning by the government. Guess which one is unconstitutional? Hint: It's not Twitter.https://twitter.com/kkruesi/status/1519364632082894848\u00a0\u2026— Tink53 (@Tink53) 1651089282
This is getting awkward. Nazis in '30 Germany burned books written by Jewish philosophers and scientists and such because they were Jewish. The made-up "enemy". \n\nSeems like republicans are trying to outfascist the Nazi's by pushing burning math bookshttps://www.rawstory.com/republican-book-burning/\u00a0\u2026— herbert rietveld (@herbert rietveld) 1651146826
It\u2019s important to understand that fascists friendly politicians are small people who have found the lowest path to importance.\n\nGOP for decades has propped up these small people puppets because they are easily controlled. They forget they\u2019re just puppets.https://www.rawstory.com/republican-book-burning/\u00a0\u2026— Watching the Wheels (@Watching the Wheels) 1651152983
To some Harry Potter is inappropriate, others Alice in Wonderland and still others Winnie the Pooh. \n\nJust saying inappropriate is too vague. \n\nWhen we ban books targeted to children, we are turning them away from reading. This has to stop.https://twitter.com/kkruesi/status/1519364632082894848\u00a0\u2026— Sarah Tomkinson (@Sarah Tomkinson) 1651116276
Sexton has watched Fahrenheit too many times. Republicans are all going Fing nuts.https://twitter.com/kkruesi/status/1519364632082894848\u00a0\u2026— Donnalee (@Donnalee) 1651140281
No one should hold public office if they want to put America on the path of Nazi Germany. #RepublicansAreDestroyingAmericahttps://twitter.com/kkruesi/status/1519364632082894848\u00a0\u2026— Edge (@Edge) 1651087843
The United States publishing industry alone publishes hundreds of thousands of books per year.
Unit sales of books "now consistently surpass 650 million per year," according to data compiled by Statista.
Thousands of those are books for children and young adults, highlighting the herculean scope of the task ahead for any commission, in Tennessee or otherwise, created for the purpose of regulating reading material in school libraries.
Student protesters have also made clear they do not accept H.B. 2666.
Lindsay Hornick, a junior at Franklin High School in Williamson County, told reporters that "choosing my own literature has made me into a more well-rounded individual." Hornick added that they "would hate to see my education system limited by a board that has almost no diversity."