Republican politicians may think they have a winning issue in banning controversial books from schools, but new polling says otherwise. It indicates that more than 80% of Americans oppose removing books from school shelves due to content involving race or other controversial issues. It means that Democrats (and Republicans, for that matter) who oppose such bans will not only be doing the right thing but will also be doing the politically savvy thing.

The trend toward book bans in schools is one of the GOP's more disturbing culture-war assaults of late. While activists have targeted some materials based on obscenity or violence, far more of what they're trying to remove are books they fear will make students (or their parents) "uncomfortable" by accurately recounting historical facts about slavery or discussing race in the context of current events.

They don't want students learning facts about history or society that may not line up with hard-right ideology, in other words. The fact that this wide net has captured such serious and important works as Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye," recently pulled from the shelves in Wentzville, Missouri, says all that's necessary about the illegitimacy of the whole endeavor. The school board rescinded that decision on Friday.

Some Republican politicians clearly think they have a winning issue with middle America. And it appears many Democrats agree with them, judging by how skittish they have been in directly confronting the book-banning efforts. But a new CBS News/YouGov poll indicates Democrats should perhaps be talking more about this issue, rather than just trying to duck the subject.

The poll asked whether adult respondents believe books should ever be banned from schools based on specific types of content like racial discussion, depictions of slavery, criticism of U.S. history or "political ideas you disagree with." Between 83% and 87% of respondents said they would oppose the yanking of books from schools based on those types of content.

In an important rebuke to the conservative claim that learning about race in America would make white students feel guilty, just 23% of the poll's respondents agreed. Similarly, just 16% agreed with the conservative trope that learning about race would diminish racial tolerance. Meanwhile, 68% said teaching about race would make students "understand what others went through."

Numbers like those are far more lopsided than the usual Democrat-Republican split among voters — meaning even many Republicans recognize that the GOP's book-banning rationales don't hold water.

The strategy of Republican book-banning efforts counts on Democrats being cowed by fears they will look radical or "woke" if they oppose such bans. But numbers like these indicate that, in fact, it's these ideologically driven book bans that are unpopular among average Americans — as they should be. What could be more American, after all, than ensuring future generations can assess the nation's sometimes-troubling past and face the often-controversial present with facts on their side and eyes wide open?

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