Banning books is a harmful act of censorship. The idea of book banning is not only an infringement upon the first amendment, but it also disproportionately affects minorities, including LGBTQ+ persons and black Americans. Banning books is old-fashioned, unlawful, controlling, and silences communities most in need of a voice.
Though the first book ban in the United States is difficult to track, most can come to an agreement that the first widespread book ban was Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, due to Stowe’s abolitionist themes. About ten years after the Civil War, Anthony Comstock, a government official, convinced the United States to pass a law prohibiting the mailing of pornographic materials. But Mr. Comstock’s definition of “pornographic materials” is absolute ludicrious: anatomy textbooks, doctors’ pamphlets concering reproduction, anything by Oscar Wilde, and The Canterbury Tales. And yet, this law passed, and the then-slang term for banning was dubbed “comstockery” due to his influence (Brady).
Then, in the court case, The United States v. One Book Called Ulysses (1933), the judge overturned a federal ban of James Joyce’s Ulysses, which had been in effect since 1922. This book was originally banned due to explicit depiction of sex, though the judge decided that the depiction of sex, even if unpleasant, should be allowed in serious literature. There were numerous court cases following this one, trying their definition of pornographic materials, though it was ultimately decided that these books that continued to be challenged were not pornographic or excessively violent, but they were simply depicting the real world. Yet, there are people today who still struggle with the idea of letting the nation freely read whatever they please, and though many consider book banning to be something of the past, in the year 2021 we have seen hundreds of attempts to ban works of literature due to citizens being unhappy with the message of the book, or even the authors’ sexual orientation and/or race.
PART II: Infringements Upon Human Rights
The same people who threw tantrums over Donald Trumps’ ban from Twitter are the same people who don’t realize, or refuse to admit, that book banning is a form of censorship. The First Amendment provides that “Congress make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise. It protects freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (The White House).
Books that are most targeted for bans typically contain violence, disrespect for parents and/or family, are sexually explicit, exalt evil, lack literary merit, are unsuitable for a particular age group, or have offensive language. Book bans usually take place in educational settings, which is further discussed in PART III, but there are people who attempt to ban books world-wide. Frequently challenged books include Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, Lawn Boy by Jonathon Evison, All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, among hundreds upon hundreds of others (Meckler). But, typically, books are challenged in the educational setting, as book ban court cases typically only take place on the state and local levels, and are rarely ever upper priorities.
In numerous sources, people claim that children’s literature is the primary target for book banning, as many parents want to censor what their children read and learn in the classroom, which is understandable.
But there is a difference between restricting access and banning, as most schools are coming to realize. Banning is not constitutional, but restricting access is. That is to say that school libraries cannot physically remove a book from the shelves, but they can restrict access to it, or require parent permission for the child to be able to read it. However, schools are unable to ban books from notorious/generally accepted authors, such as Mark Twain, J.K. Rowling, R.L. Stine, Judy Blume, or Robert Cormier (Webb).
Another court case, Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District v Pico (1982), ruled 5-4 that public schools can bar books that are pervasively vulgar or not right for the curriculum, but cannot remove books simply because they dislike the ideas within those books (Webb). Many people remember that over-told story where one teacher from the south refused to read a book about evolution since the idea of evolution went against the beliefs of the Bible, a prime example of what this law is protecting against.
There’s also the issue of parental involvement in their children’s education. Many parents wish to ban books in the name of being a good parent, protecting their children from the horrors that life will bring them down the road. Is this protecting or just temporarily shielding?
The simple solution is the development of a strong parent-teacher relationship. Typically, teachers do not have much control over the literature chosen, as it must coincide with the education curriculum. But, as long as the teacher is transparent and honest about the material being discussed within the book and the classroom, it shouldn’t be an issue.
Oftentimes, the banning of these books in the classroom, which typically target LGBTQ+ authors/themes, is just a cowardly action to avoid having serious conversations about life outside of the classroom, even though that should be the aim of education in the first place: to prepare students for life after school.
PART IV: Who is Banning Really Censoring?
Banning books silences voices that are the most in-need of being heard. There’s a lot of politics involved in the book banning dilemma. Generically, conservatives move to ban books involving race, sexuality, and gender. But there are also liberals who move to ban books that “marginalize minorities or use racially insensitive language” (Harris), such as the infamous To Kill a Mockingbird, which heavily discusses racism and why society has so much work to do towards equality, but uses racial slurs as is consistent with the time period of this book being written. Recently, a Tennessee school district removed a book about the Holocaust: a topic heavily discussed in history classes, which is paramount for a full understanding about the inhumane actions taken against Jewish individuals.
Most targeted books for banning in 2021 were by or about black or LGBTQ+ persons, according to the American Library Association (Meckler). As previously mentioned, this censorship removes the possibility for discussion and better understanding of topics that are in need of discussion for better comprehension at a young age, such as gender expression, race/racism, and sexuality. The lack of these conversations will only lay the groundwork for increasing bullying, disrespect, violence, and attacks against others.
Homophobia and racism is likely the driving force behind book banning. One example of homophobia playing into the banning of books involves the Mayor of Ridgeland, Mississippi, who had recently withheld funding from the Madison County Library system. “He would not release the money until books with LGBTQ themes were removed,” says the library’s executive director (Harris).
It seems that for every step forward American society makes in regards to gender expression, LGBTQ+ rights, and equality, there are two steps backward, returning to transphobia, homophobia, and racism. Now that these groups are finally able to tell their stories, something that had rarely happened in literature, they are once again being silenced due to a prejudiced political climate.
Book banning should be something of the past, as it does not benefit anyone except the silencers. This form of censorship blatantly defies the First Amendment, as it silences the press and also other communities that have only recently been able to express their feelings and experiences without being met with gruesome repercussions. The banning of literature, especially in schools, will create an unaccepting environment with increased bullying and prejudice, undoing any work that had previously been done for equality rights. Not only does this harm students, but by going through all the motions to get a work of literature banned— a work of art that an author may have spent years of their life on— instead of just having a conversation about the abnormal themes of the book, or the language used, shows that these people are cowards and/or do not understand enough about the content material themselves, which actually shows that these books are a necessity in order to move toward a progressive, educated society.
Brady, Amy. “The History (and Present) of Banning Books in America.” Literary Hub, 22 Sept. 2016, lithub.com/the-history-and-present-of-banning-books-in-america.
Goldberg, Erica. “When Are Book Bans Unconstitutional? A First Amendment Scholar Explains.” Virginia Mercury, 20 Apr. 2022, www.google.com/url?q=https://www.virginiamercury.com/2022/04/20/when-are-book-bans-unconstitutional-a-first-amendment-scholar-explains/%23:%7E:text%3DThe%2520government%2520cannot%2520create%2520laws,such%2520as%2520obscenity%2520or%2520libel&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1653325376487195&usg=AOvVaw0blOVUlZ5bUV0pE0RqoHoO.
Harris, Elizabeth, and Alexandra Alter. “Why Book Ban Efforts Are Spreading Across the U.S.” The New York Times, 8 Feb. 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/01/30/books/book-ban-us-schools.html.
Klein, Lisa, and Carrie Leff. “Our Book on Puberty Has Been Banned. This Only Puts Kids at Risk.” The Washington Post, 4 June 2022, www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/02/our-book-puberty-has-been-banned-this-only-puts-kids-risk.
Mazariegos, Miranda. “Efforts to Ban Books Jumped an ‘unprecedented’ Four-Fold in 2021, ALA Report Says.” NPR, 4 Apr. 2022, choice.npr.org/index.html?origin=https://www.npr.org/2022/04/04/1090067026/efforts-to-ban-books-jumped-an-unprecedented-four-fold-in-2021-ala-report-says.
Meckler, Laura, and Perry Stein. “These Are Books School Systems Don’t Want You to Read, and Why.” The Washington Post, 28 Apr. 2022, www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/04/28/book-banned-why-locations.
The White House. “The Constitution.” The White House, 20 Jan. 2021, www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/our-government/the-constitution.
Webb, Susan L. “Book Banning.” The First Amendment Encyclopedia, www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/986/book-banning. Accessed 23 May 2022.
Wikipedia contributors. “Book Censorship in the United States.” Wikipedia, 10 May 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_censorship_in_the_United_States.
Wikipedia contributors. “List of Books Banned by Governments.” Wikipedia, 30 Apr. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_banned_by_governments.
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