PEAK TO PEAK — That’s the theme for this year’s Banned Books Week—an “honor” that seems to grow every year.
According to The Washington Post, just a few years ago (2021-22) 60% of the book challenges came from just 11 people. In 2024, 72% of those challenges came from government entities and pressure groups.
Why are books banned? This country has always had a puritanical streak, which has climaxed (pun intended) in events like Prohibition and the Great Gay Scare of the 1950s. There’s always been a minority who essentially want to deprive all of their fellow Americans of virtually all pleasures, especially those sensual or sexual.
But recently, those who would deny others of choice have added to their general dislike of pleasure the disdain for issues related to other moral decisions. They therefore decided that withholding material involving those other issues is appropriate.
As our country has moved to more inclusion—of races, religions, sexual, and gender differences—so, too, have the censors moved into new areas for them.
The Master List of Banned Books runs to a count of over 200. PEN America notes that book bans disproportionately target books featuring people of color and LGBTQIA+ themes. Along with these newer reasons for outrage (see "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Heather Has Two Mommies"), governments have also been influenced by religious pressure groups (almost always Christian) to ban books espousing values contrary to these particular puritans.
Magic has, surprisingly, become one of these targets: the "Harry Potter" books have been a commonly challenged series. Interestingly, the "His Dark Materials" series is also frequently banned, although the “magic” is shown as fitting comfortably within the Christian framework.
Coinciding with the Trump years, more and more books featuring alternative political systems ("Brave New World") or criticizing the current one ("Grapes of Wrath," "Catch-22") have fallen under the hatchet. So have books with overtly feminist themes ("The Handmaid’s Tale").
Unsurprisingly, a book about censoring books has also been censored: "Fahrenheit 451."
The PEN report goes on to state that “Research has shown that banning books about the experiences and histories of marginalized groups of people increases feelings of exclusion and invisibility, and intensifies their risk of mental health challenges. ... The erasure of books about students of color in school libraries has deeply harmful impacts on mental health.”
We know this kind of repression is not happening here, so what can we do about it?
The American Library Association has called for October 10 to be Let Freedom Read Day, a day of direct action against censorship. Go to your nearest library and read a banned book (I’ll bet both community libraries have lists). Talk to your friends and your kids about the importance of books that include experiences of everyone, not just a favored few.
Remember: It’s OK if you don’t want to read a book because of its content. It may be alright to forbid your kids to read a book you feel might hurt them. But it’s not alright to assume that a book you think is bad, or evil, or disgusting, should be forbidden to all.
That’s censorship, and that’s not what enlightened citizens are about.
