Read banned books
Why it's more important now than ever. Probably my most and only (so far?) controversial post. Oop!
I don’t have to tell you the results of the election have repercussions for the entire world. But I would like to talk about one that I am concerned about (amongst many) and that is the rise of censorship, or attempted censorship that is on its way.
Obviously, there has always been a crowd keen on banning books, but here’s the thing- What I’ve noticed during the previous term and what’s inevitable to happen soon enough, is the keen crowd, right-wing activists and republican lawmakers, become more brazen when a certain person is in office.
This is a crowd that tends to have their chests puffed up with an inflated sense of personal power over other people because they’re backed up by rhetoric fed to them repeatedly on their alleged religious moral superiority over others.
“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.” - Oscar Wilde
According to PEN America, the majority of books in schools are not getting banned because of parents here and there are concerned when they look at their children’s school assignments.
The majority of book banning comes from the right wing activist organizations, which they have found at least 50 of them, such as Moms for Liberty, No Left Turn in Education, and MassResistance (oh dear), along with smaller groups on local levels.
Some interesting facts from pen.org
During the 2021-22 school year, schools in 32 states have banned more than 2500 books, affecting 1,648 unique book titles.
674 banned titles address LGBTQ+ themes
659 banned books contain protagonists or prominent secondary characters of color.
338 banned books address issues of race and racism
357 banned books contain sexual content that varies from puberty to abortion, to relationships and sexual assault.
161 banned books titles have themes related to rights and activism
141 banned books are biographies, autobiographies, or memoirs
65 banned books include characters and stories that reflect religious minorities, such as Jewish, Muslim and other faith traditions.
You can find these facts and details about them here.
All of these themes are well known to be frowned upon with the upcoming administration and I think we’re going to see a lot more submissions for bans to fit certain agendas.
This is a very interesting and well researched video about what’s possibly to come and around 4 minutes she mentions there’s a new bill in West Virginia that says librarians can be charged if it’s found they’re shelving books that they don’t deem appropriate. This is only the beginning.
Watch that video, it’s so good and informative.
Quote on censorship
I love this quote by Stephen King:
“Censorship and the suppression of reading materials are rarely about family values and almost always about control; About who is snapping the whip, who is saying no, and who is saying go. Censorship's bottom line is this: if the novel Christine offends me, I don't want just to make sure it's kept from my kid; I want to make sure it's kept from your kid, as well, and all the kids. This bit of intellectual arrogance, undemocratic and as old as time, is best expressed this way: "If it's bad for me and my family, it's bad for everyone's family."
Yet when books are run out of school classrooms and even out of school libraries as a result of this idea, I'm never much disturbed not as a citizen, not as a writer, not even as a schoolteacher . . . which I used to be. What I tell kids is, Don't get mad, get even. Don't spend time waving signs or carrying petitions around the neighborhood. Instead, run, don't walk, to the nearest non-school library or to the local bookstore and get whatever it was that they banned. Read whatever they're trying to keep out of your eyes and your brain, because that's exactly what you need to know.”
Last May, in my area, there was an uproar over a book titled My Shadow is Pink (you can read/hear it free on youtube here to decide for yourself). Certain parents did not like their children reading this book in school.
I just read that a local father (in regards to this book) is currently suing the district after he says they denied his request for notice and opt-outs on curriculum teaching gender identity. He believes it's a violation of his family's christian religious beliefs.
I personally think that book is really cute and sends the message to children that we’re all unique people and it’s ok to be who you are. Honestly, a pink shadow? The horror! Imagine suing over it. I cannot. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why this certain community harbors so much hate and fear for people unlike them.
“A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone.” - Jo Godwin
An amusing (yet not) plea for the ban of Beloved
Beloved by Toni Morrison has been a banned book in many places for decades. The most recent incident with Beloved was during Virginia’s governor race in 2021 with a Republican ad. Via that link you can watch a video of a mother in the ad discuss how her son was assigned the “explicit” reading material and it gave him nightmares.
He was a senior in high school taking an AP English course!!!! He was on the brink of adulthood taking an advanced English course and his mother didn’t want him or anyone else in his school reading a classic novel about slavery, violence, and oppression! How are these kids going to enter society having read just fluff?
It’s not just for kids
This post isn’t just about children. I think there are a lot of adults out there that could use a long list of banned book reading. This country is so divisive and lacks so much empathy toward each other.
The divide is only going to get exacerbated with trump in the white house egging his people on, as we have seen previously. (It appears to be starting already).
Adults not reading banned books (or books at all, let’s be real) and educating themselves on various topics trickles down into the demand for children not to read them either. They wouldn’t want their kids more educated than them, right? I don’t know. Is there any other explanation?
Reading banned books is an act of resistance. It’s a way to educate yourself beyond the mainstream, very curated, offering of information. When you know better, you do better. You’re less likely to be persuaded into others ways of thinking.
“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.” -Haruki Murakami
This reminds me of trump saying he loves the poorly educated in this speech. Of course he does. He can tell them anything and they’ll believe it. Literally anything. That definitely works in his favor, which I believe is what won him this election. He relied on the people that don’t know better. The American education system is not great, especially in the regions of the country voting for him. This article titled “The Most Educated States Voted Blue” is from 2020 but the map is quite similar to the recent election as well.
According to his plans for education, it looks like he’s trying to cut down education because dumb people are subservient people.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” - Nelson Mandela
Benefits of reading banned books
As if the benefits are not obvious:
You learn about history from different perspectives. This is crucial. Not everyone has had the same experience throughout history. With bans on books about slavery, people of color, and racism, it’s difficult to learn the entire scope of history. It’s foolish to only read from those with similar backgrounds and lives as you.
If a book about someone else’s lived experience gives you nightmares, it’s the least you could do! Which leads to:Empathy - when you read stories from others perspectives and invest your time in learning about them and get emotionally involved in their experience, it cultivates empathy and understanding for them. The people aren’t so far away anymore. More empathy breeds more kindness and inclusivity.
You educate yourself on ideas that you may not have thought about previously, giving way to more informed decisions in life.
Critical thinking skills- something a lot of people could use here in the US. One of my favorite things is to read a banned book, such as Fahrenheit 451 or 1984, and analyze why it’s so feared by the government for the masses to read such a thing.
Why do governments not want people reading about totalitarianism? So people don’t see the signs in their own governments and rebel?
When someone comes knocking on your door to burn your books and tell you to just watch a mind numbing tv show instead for your evening entertainment, you’ll go along with it?E.D.U.C.A.T.I.O.N - is there a better reason than this?
“Only the educated are free.” - Epictetus
So this is my call to action for everyone to continue (or start!) your personal education and read books that will expand your knowledge. To go against the grain of society and learn what they don’t want you to learn. They don’t have to all be banned, just read anything! Don’t rely on mainstream media for any kind of “truth”. Don’t think any government or institution has your best interests in mind. Find your own sources.
Books will get you where you need to go.
Also, I feel like this entire post is just stating the obvious but sometimes the obvious needs to be stated because some things, to some people, aren’t so obvious.
Some of my favorite banned books that I recommend
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (If you haven’t read this you must)
Animal Farm by George Orwell
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein (as mentioned in my last post) This was banned “for encouraging satanism, cannibalism, suicide, and ‘encouraging children to break the dishes so they don't have to dry them.’"
You can’t make this stuff up.
x,
Courtney