Banned Books and Censorship: A New Form of Bullying
“Banning books gives us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight.
”
Photo from The Joplin Globe.
Sienna Kenney
In April 2022, nonprofit organization PEN America found that 1,586 book bans targeting 1,145 unique books had occurred in the past nine months. This includes books like The Hate U Give, This Book Is Gay, All Boys Aren’t Blue, and many more. It is clear that banning books is becoming a pressing issue in the United States.
A banned book is a book that is removed from libraries, schools, and bookstores due to the content of the literature being deemed as controversial or offensive to the morals of individuals or government officials. But who is creating these bans? Many officials across the country such as county prosecutors and school board members are speaking out about the books they find “disturbing.” These people ban books for being inappropriate, “encouraging homosexuality,” or simply for containing one too many swear words for their liking.
Banning books is like putting tape over the mouths of a whole society of people so that their thoughts and feelings are out of sight and out of mind for those banning them. This obstruction of free speech and the right to publish fits right in with the current regress in society. There seems to be a pattern happening where older, conservative officials have been building up walls that were broken down for the good of humanity. Those banning books seem to only live to benefit themselves, so whatever they or their religions don't approve of, must be torn down or banned immediately.
Books and writing are a form of expression that is vastly important for the minds of the future and present. We cannot and will not grow as a society if we are not exposed to things that don’t challenge our thinking from time to time. It is honestly startling to know that some individuals feel that it is their purpose to make this world better, when their actions show the opposite. As Kurt Vonnegut writes, ““I hate it that Americans are taught to fear some books and some ideas as though they were diseases.”
It is not only Christians presenting ideas to ban certain books, but on numerous occasions, Christians have taken the lead in attempting to remove specific books from the public. For example, Rep. Matt Krause (R-Texas) created a list of 850 books to target and ban. Krause is an outspoken Christian and former attorney for the Liberty Counsel, a conservative nonprofit that engages in litigation on behalf of evangelical Christians. This is also not a one-time incident, as similar scenarios have occurred across the U.S.
There are many things that I find weird, uncomfortable, or possibly strange in pop culture, clothing, books, and more, but not once have I thought to myself, This should not be allowed because I find it weird or I don’t agree with it. There is a difference between thinking murder is wrong and thinking a book about a gay couple is wrong. One is common sense and the other is hateful and unnecessary. If someone happens to be bothered by a book, it is so incredibly simple to just not read it, and maybe more intensely, not let your kids read it. There is no reason on earth that these incredible books that provide a feeling of safety, understanding, and comfort for many individuals should be suppressed and banned. It is better to have people feel validated and safe while reading these books than depressed and suicidal in the absence of affirming literature.
The First Amendment's free speech, assembly, and press guarantees allow citizens to express and be exposed to a wide range of opinions. It was intended to ensure a free marketplace of ideas—even if the ideas are unpopular. The main motivation for the banning of books is because they don’t fit in with the morals or ideas of some people. But under this amendment, that is within the same Constitution that many of these people fight for, it protects the exchange of ideas, and books are just a mode of transportation.
Banning books is certainly not new. This issue has happened in the past during a very dark time, WWII. Books were stolen and burned during WWII in Nazi Germany because books were seen as being subversive or presenting ideologies that oppose Nazism. This is entirely akin with the motivations of the current book bans because the books don’t align with the views of individuals.
Additionally, Ernest Hemingway, an American author, had his books banned from various parts of the world such as Italy and Ireland. Even in the 1960’s, his books were banned from schools in San Jose. Reasons for this include Hemingway’s novels depicting certain countries harmfully and for some of his novels being “too sexual” for school children. Even more recently, most adults today actively remember the crusade against JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, accused of promoting witchcraft and subject to book bonfires in some churches and conservative circles.
All of these examples show that people can always find a problem with something as long as they live. However, there is truly no point in banning or burning books because people will always speak, and write, their truth. Clare Booth Luce says it best: “Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there.”
