Scholastic reverses course, won't cave to bigots by segregating diverse books

The publisher and school book fair giant Scholastic has decided it won’t cave to bigots and bullies after all. Scholastic had drawn criticism, including from its own authors, for announcing a policy in which diverse books would be segregated into an add-on collection for book fairs rather than being included in the standard option. Now it’s ending that plan, saying in a statement, “We understand now that the separate nature of the collection has caused confusion and feelings of exclusion.”

In a longer letter written to authors and illustrators, Ellie Berger, the president of the Scholastic Trade Publishing division, apologized. “Even if the decision was made with good intention, we understand now that it was a mistake to segregate diverse books in an elective case.” This is an actual apology. Author Molly Knox Ostertag, one of the first public critics of the segregation policy, acknowledged, “It seems to be a good faith effort to protect teachers and librarians” from retaliation for giving students access to diverse books. But when you find yourself in a position where you’re saying “we understand now that it was a mistake to segregate,” soul-searching and apologies are definitely necessary.