Book Bans: A Tool of Caution or a Weapon Against Choice
- Amanda Hayes
- Jan 8, 2024
- 8 min read
Throughout the past year, the United States has seen unprecedented book bans brought before legislative boards nationwide. If you haven't seen the words "book ban" across any of your social media platforms, do not fret. To understand a book ban, you first need to understand censorship. Censorship is a concept most learn throughout their high school education. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines censorship as "to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable." For most of us, this will not be a new concept to understand. However, it is worth noting that varying opinions exist regarding this practice. Multiple countries employ censorship, and even more deploy it on occasion. In the United States, the First Amendment popularly protects the freedoms of religion, assembly, press, speech, and petition. This is the guarantee the American people hold near and dear, protecting them from censorship.
Book bans are considered a form of censorship as they restrict the content and diminish the rights of the book authors. However, book bans can come in many forms. While the First Amendment protects the American public, it does not extend the same protections to corporations, which can face challenges from private citizens. And, when we take a step back and examine the issue objectively, it is not always a fraught effort. There are books that, within their context, may shine a positive light on topics such as nazism, xenophobia, racism, genocide, and many others. While we are not here to say these topics should be excluded from all books everywhere, it is essential to note that there is a difference between recounting fact and history and a retelling that embellishes the truth and paints atrocities as lesser than or demeaning their significance.
Similarly, when examining which books are permitted in schools---a much-contested issue---there are specific topics upon which we can all agree. No child should be reading a book that contains sexual scenes, depicts extreme violence and gore, or contains mention of drug use. These are points that I believe we can all agree on. No second grader should have access to and upon which bans are well-placed. However, there is a difference between a conscious ban for books unsuited to a particular age group and a blanket ban against a specific set of books for generalized reasons imposed across the board, regardless of age.
Let's take a moment to dive into the past and discover how we arrived at where we are today.
Back to the Beginning
In other words, we're taking a time machine back to Ancient China. The Qin Dynasty (221- 206 BCE) was the first dynasty of Imperial China and is known for having heavily influenced the next two centuries of Chinese history. It is also where, in 213 BCE, we find one of the oldest known instances of book banning: the "burning of books and burying of scholars." This was a censorship campaign waged by the government to control how the history of the government was recorded for future generations to learn. The campaign consisted of a coordinated burning of all books that went against the views of the Emperor and the alleged live burial of the book's authors. The facts of the "burning of books and burying of scholars" have long been a debate amongst historians; however, to date, it is one of the earliest accounts of what we know today as book banning throughout the history of the world.
Not long after the "burning of books and burying of scholars," in 8 CE, Emperor Augustus is known to have had an agenda of moral reform that he considered essential. Principally, religion, virtue, and honor were at the forefront of his moral campaign, all core values that went against a controversial poem called Ars Amatoria by Ovid, a Roman poet. Ars Amatoria, which translates to The Art of Love, was deemed offensive due to being erotic poetry, and subsequently, Ovid found himself exiled to the ends of the Empire.
And this is just the start.
From Personal to Cultural
In both instances detailed above, the books were merely an avenue employed by a government official to gain control by censoring the authors. However, politics and morality are only two of the reasons why book bans have been enacted throughout history. The third and potentially most significant in a historical context is religion. The Catholic faith has been around for nearly all recorded Common Era history. It has been and remains one of the most followed and influential religions worldwide. And it is here that we find one of the most significant book bans in history: the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, or Index of Forbidden Books. Established in 1559 by Pope Paul IV, the Index remained in use through 1966, during which time it served as a constantly changing list of books deemed immoral or heretical that Catholics were banned from reading. This is one of the most significant bans on books seen throughout history and possibly one of the most strictly adhered to.
Moving to the 17th century, we find two well-known instances of book banning in history. The first was in 1633, when Galileo Galilei was placed under house arrest and forced to renounce his work after the Catholic Church deemed his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems heresy. This was the work in which Galileo affirmed the Copernicus model of the universe that claimed the sun as the center of the universe in place of the earth. Five years later, in 1637, the first book ban occurred in the newly formed American colonies. The Puritans banned New English Canaan by Thomas Morton, an English businessman, for its harsh and heretic depiction of their beliefs and the development of the new territory.
A Tool of Oppression
Whereas the examples above showcase bans on a broad scale, such as banning a book from an entire Empire or prohibiting a whole religion from reading a title regardless of location, the last two centuries saw book bans become a more localized act. Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was banned throughout many Confederate states in 1853 for its rhetoric regarding abolition (and to this day, it continues to be a highly contested novel due to its charged text). In 1859, The Trinity College of Cambridge, where Charles Darwin once studied, banned his Origin of Species, which introduced the theory of evolution; the library of Concord, Massachusetts, banned Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn in 1885 due to its material, and in 1931 the Chinese governor of Hunan province banned Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland for its portrayal of sentient animals.
As we get to 1933, we arrive at one of the most targeted book bans of history as the Nazis stage bonfires to burn books written by Jewish authors, communists, and anyone they deemed as "other" during their occupation of Germany. The Holocaust was one of the darkest moments in human history, and book bonfires were just one of the many tools of oppression used by the Nazis to control the population. By limiting access to diverse and inclusive books, they ensured that children and adults could not access knowledge. This ensured the uneducated population remained submissive and posed no threat to the Nazi government as they controlled what was being shown and learned by the people. Today, many popular Historical Fiction novels center around the time of the Second World War, the experiences of book bonfires, and the lives of booksellers and librarians during this time.
Although book burnings and bonfires are much less common nowadays, book bans continue to grow in their implementation and effect. So much so that in 1982, we saw the first Banned Books Week, an annual event that started in response to the uptick in bans that year and highlights the importance of free access to books and information. Since 1982, book bans have become a politically motivated tool to advance political agendas. As a result, we find ourselves in a world in which we are being forced into self-censorship as across the country, retailers, librarians, and educators find themselves forced with the possibility of criminal charges or fines if they are found to be violating the new and strict laws in place banning titles.
A clear example can be found in the State of Florida. Through legislation such as the " Don't Say Gay" bill and the state's INdividual Freedom Act, also known as the "Stop W.O.K.E. Act," an unprecedented wave of book bans and regulations has descended upon the state. Teachers and librarians have been forced to remove numerous titles from their shelves and restrict books within students' access until the authorities have properly vetted the titles. The State government has placed itself above schools, school boards, and libraries, which have recently been the primary enactors of book bans as seen fit. While the State does have a responsibility to protect students and their well-being, it cannot be believed that a widespread ban on books through vague language and uncertain terms that place educators and librarians in precarious situations if they fail to adhere to the specifics of the obscure laws is in the best interest of any party. The effects of such actions have already begun to take effect within the state as a Fox 13 Tampa Bay News report released on September 7, 2023, states, "Florida's teacher shortage is hitting a record high...right now there's more than 7,000 vacancies for teachers and support staff across the state." The same article has Andrew SPar, Florida Education Association President, stating, "that number may continue to get higher if major changes at the state-level aren't made."
But Florida is not alone in its crusade against books, as the Nebraska Examiner reports that "63% of all book bans, or 2,114 books, occurred in eight states --- Florida, Missouri, Utah, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Oklahoma, and West Virginia --- with state laws that either banned books or created local pressure to remove books for the 2022-2023 school year." The article from October 9, 2023, also reports that Texas and Iowa had "also recently passed similar legislation." These are bans that, while undoubtedly founded based on protecting students and ensuring the books within access to children are those deemed appropriate for their age, have been twisted to advance and conform to political agendas. Book bans throughout history have been employed as a tool to oppress and control, and these States are veering into the territory of these historical uses of the book ban rather than prioritizing the education and knowledge of the students they claim to be enacted for.
A Look Ahead
A December 6, 2023 article from Publisher Weekly highlights the recent introduction of "new federal legislation aimed at combating the surge of book banning in schools." The Fight Book Bans Act, introduced by Representatives Maxwell Frost of Florida, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, and Frederica Wilson of Florida, "would offer school districts funding to defend against the ongoing surge in challenges to books and educational materials." This legislation is the second of its kind aimed at targeting the book bans becoming widespread around the country. The article also cites Mr. Frost as stating, "The Fight Book Bans Act takes a stand against censorship to firmly stand on the side of history, education, our students, teachers, and schools, who don’t deserve to suffer the consequences of radical politics in the classroom. This is about protecting our libraries and protecting truth and history" during his address at the press conference announcing the new legislation.
Intellectual freedom and unrestricted access to information and knowledge are the cornerstone of a democratic society. Freedom of speech and expression are ingrained into the very foundations of our country and protected at the highest level of government. The United States is a country made up of a melting pot of races, cultures, religions, and backgrounds, and each of us is afforded the same rights as the others. We all deserve and have the right to see ourselves represented in the books that we read, and no government should have the power to impose its will over that right. While the federal government continues to attempt to correct the overstep of the state governments that are imposing restrictions and limitations on students and educators, we can only wait for the outcome and hope that when our history is written, we end up on the right side of it.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION AND SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON BOOK BANS AND THEIR POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT IN THE QUEEN'S CORNER.
Comments