MASON CITY, Iowa — Editor's note: The video above is a WFAA report about Fort Worth ISD's response to the READER Act, a Texas law similar to the Iowa law referenced in this article.
If you're from Texas, or even lived in the Lone Star State at any point, chances are you have heard of "Friday Night Lights."
Your exposure to the story of the 1988 Odessa Permian football team may vary, whether you were introduced to it through the movie, TV show, or the book authored by H.G. “Buzz” Bissinger. The former were inspired by the latter, a best-selling 1990 non-fiction book about how the football team's success had a profound influence on the West Texas town.
Bissinger dives into life in Odessa, its racial and social divisions, and how a "single-minded devotion to the team shapes the community and inspires – and sometimes shatters – the teenagers who wear the Panthers' uniforms," the synopsis says.
The book has now been banned from schools in a city in northern Iowa after being flagged by artificial intelligence (AI), according to Iowa newspaper, The Gazette.
The Gazette reported that state legislature passed Iowa Senate File 496, which requires every book available to students be “age-appropriate” and free of any “descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act.” It is a similar law to one passed in Texas called the "READER Act," which goes into effect on Sept. 1.
Bridgette Exman, Mason City Community School District assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, said it was “simply not feasible to read every book and filter for these new requirements,” so the Iowa school district used ChatGPT to help provide textual analysis of each title, The Gazette reported.
Nineteen books were flagged, including Bissinger's, and removed from school shelves in Mason City. Bissinger was less than thrilled.
“This use of AI is ridiculous,” Bissinger told The Gazette. “There’s no sex at all. I’ve never depicted a sex act. I don’t know what the [expletive] they’re talking about. I purposely stayed away from that."
“My book is being falsely depicted,” Bissinger added. “The tragedy is, this is a great book for kids. It is a great book for teenage males because they don’t like to read anything. But they devour this book, and I know because I’ve had over 30 years of emails telling me that. The idea that this book has been banned is totally against what our society is and should be, freedom of speech and the ability of kids to choose what they want to read. Absolutely tragic. Not just my book, but all the books they cited.”
Other books flagged and banned by Mason City schools include: Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple,” Theodore Dreiser’s “An American Tragedy,” and Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”
The 1988 Odessa Permian football team made it to the state semifinals, despite losing star running back Boobie Miles, where they ultimately lost to Dallas Carter, regarded by many as the one of the greatest high school football teams ever.
“In my eyes, I'd say we were the best ever," defensive back Gary Edwards told WFAA in 2013. “Not just the best in Dallas or Texas, I would like to say we're the best team ever assembled.”
“Dallas Carter, 1988? That was one of the great teams,” former WFAA sports anchor Dale Hansen said in “What Carter Lost,” a 2017 ESPN documentary about the Cowboys’ 1988 season.
That Dallas Carter team had its title stripped in 1990 after a Texas University Interscholastic League investigation determined Edwards should have been ruled ineligible to play during the Cowboys’ playoffs run because of an algebra II grade.
Bissinger told The Gazette his book has sold 2 million copies.
“There are now elements of our society who believe that it’s in their interest to shield kids and to shield readers from anything that puts a certain perspective on the United States,” Bissinger told The Gazette. “So unless it’s totally glowing, unless the problems of this country are absolutely put under the rug and not acknowledged, it’s going to be banned."
“Kids should know about racism. It’s not just Odessa, it’s all over the country," Bissinger said. "Kids should know about what can happen if all your eggs are in high school sports. Kids are supposed to learn. Not just learn the classics, but they’re supposed to learn about elements of our society. And by the way, the book is not all negative. The book does celebrate the beauty of high school football. And that’s part of the reason for the success of the book. It’s magical.”
In Fort Worth ISD, the district closed all of its libraries to take inventory of all books on shelves, according to a district spokesperson.
The district told WFAA "every campus library will be closed through August 25 so catalogs can be inventoried.” While 128 libraries are closed, a separate process is underway: more than 100 titles will be transferred from campus libraries for further review. A spokesperson indicated officials are reviewing material in a way they haven't before to comply with Texas' READER Act taking effect Sept. 1.
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