“It could've been easy to say I was hurt because I'm trans, because someone singled me out for my identity, but there's something weird about …suggesting that my identity…brought me any sort of pain…Being trans brings me love. It brings me happiness. It gives me power.” This is an excerpt of Felix Ever After, a book I read last June. Felix is a black, queer, transgender boy who is outed as trans at his art school. If you lived in the Conway Public Schools District, Arkansas, you wouldn’t be able to find this book in school libraries. This book has also been challenged by the Texas Legislature and is under review for containing what some might consider ‘inappropriate’ topics.
But book bans are not a new phenomenon. In the 17th century and before, book banning and censorship started as book burning. One of the first instances of book burning was a pamphlet by Massachusetts colonist William Pynchon, titled “The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption,” published in 1650. During the Civil War, anti-slavery books such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin, written by abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, were banned and publicly burned, along with similar titles. In 1873, Congress passed the Cornstock Act, which banned the possession and mailing of ‘explicit’ content, which included sexual orientation, and even birth control. During the Holocaust, Nazi book banning and burning attempted to silence dissident voices and promote Nazi ideals. Throughout the 1930s, German citizens frequently burned books that were deemed ‘un-German.’ The Nazis targeted books that included Communism, criticism of the Nazi regime and government, sexuality, race, books by Jewish authors, and books by American authors, such as Helen Keller, who promoted the disabled, women’s rights, pacifism and worker’s rights. In modern times, North Korea has banned all books except those promoting North Korean propaganda and adoration of North Korean leaders.
Recently, book censorship has once again risen in America. Many conservative states, school districts, and parents have banned books they deem harmful or explicit. Most of the books that have been banned or under review for censorship contain topics about race, the LGBTQ+ community, abuse, abortion, sex, health, and death. The most banned type of book is Young Adult, which helps students gain new, diverse information and develop their beliefs and identities. So far this year, the states with the most banned books are Texas, Florida, Missouri, Utah, and South Carolina. The most banned book by far is “Gender Queer,” a memoir by Maia Kobabe. This book discusses Maia’s journey through her adult life, discovering her sexual and gender identity. Another popular book that is being banned is Rupi Kaur’s “Milk & Honey, '' a collection of fiction and poems that focus on ‘violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity.’ Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” about a black girl in the Great Depression, is another targeted book, and covers topics of abuse, sexual assault, and race. This kind of censorship represses the voices and ideas of minorities, activists, and the underrepresented. If we are slowly bringing mass book banning back to America, aren’t we repeating the history of oppression that has already caused so many terrible events?
From childhood, children are influenced by the ideas in the books they read. Banning such diverse books restricts the flow of new information and exposure they gain from reading. By banning books about race, sexual orientation and sex, children grow up ignorant and unaware of discrimination and information about marginalized communities. Luckily, organizations such as the American Library Association and the Freedom To Read Foundation, which supports libraries, are fighting against this censorship.
However, certain books should be banned if they encourage or tell someone to do something harmful. The books I have mentioned above don’t hurt anyone in any way, and they don’t encourage kids and teens to do bad things. On the other hand, books telling people how to commit suicide or build a bomb should be banned because they actively tell someone how to do harm. But Felix Ever After and so many others are not books that cause or encourage harm. It may seem insignificant that it’s being banned in so many states, but reading that book made me realize how many labels there are out there, how it’s okay to not have a label, and the ways people of color and sexuality are being discriminated against. Someday, it could educate another person about these topics, but only if it’s allowed to stay in libraries and schools.
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