Table of the Banned

 

A brief cruise around my house revealed a table full of books I own that have been banned or could be banned. Some have been banned in school libraries, some in public libraries, and some would be subject to CRT restrictions (basically, that you could no longer teach the truth in history class).

King James Bible - banned in elementary and middle schools in Utah. It has passages that are intensely violent and others that are sexually explicit. Utah changed its laws so if even one parent objected to a book, it could be pulled from library shelves. In protest of that idiotic rule, one parent decided to ask for a ban of the King James Bible. And, taken out of context, as other objected to books are, he's absolutely right. Once you start down the road to madness, anything can happen.

Maus - this PULITZER prize-winning graphic compelling tells the story of the Holocaust using anthropomorphic characters. It raises the ire of holocaust deniers and has the audacity to display naked mice heading for the gas chambers. I've read hundreds of graphic novels. Maus is among the very best.

A Young People's History of the United States - I got this for Benjamin to get a richer view of history than he was at school (where Nixon was one of the best Presidents ever, and the teacher stated that being gay was a sin). It tells history from the point of view of the average person rather than the elites. I don't know if this book is specifically banned. I also don't think you can find it in libraries.

An Inconvenient Truth -  Is it banned? I'm not sure. But I doubt if you can find it in most school libraries. It teaches the truth about climate change, something the political and Christian right don't want young children exposed to.

Waking Up White - a white woman wakes up to the systematic racism she is surrounded by. So, what do you think? You think a book that screams "woke" would survive DeSantis-level scrutiny?

It Can't Happen Here -  a 1930s book by Sinclair Lewis, imagining the US where fascism creeps in and takes over. It can't happen here? I would argue that Florida is finding out that it surely can happen here.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - the book's banning has been chiefly perpetrated by leftists, objecting to the use of the n word. Yes, I am a leftist/progressive, but one smart enough to understand the importance of context and what Mark Twain was trying to communicate.

To Kill A Mockingbird - yep. Some places have banned this book, one of the greatest literary works of the 20th century. Don't want white people to feel bad, I guess.

Red, White & Royal Blue - has the unabashed audacity to feature gay characters. 

Jesus and the Disinherited - not banned per see, but probably not very wanted in political and Christain right circles, as it connects the light and love of Jesus to those who are disadvantaged and discriminated against and promotes social justice. Many, many churches in the area I live in are much more interested in the prosperity gospel, condemning reproductive rights and marginalizing and demonizing LGBTQ+ people than they are in social justice and inclusion.

The Jungle - this intense book and expose of the meatpacking industry led to reforms that helped protect workers and consumers, including leading to the FDA and the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act. Why was it objected to? Why, it's SOCIALISM.

The World According to Garp and A Prayer for Owen Meany -  two books by John Irving that have been subject to bans. The World According to Garp presents feminist concerns and a sympathetic transgender character.

 Good as Gold - I actually picked the wrong Joseph Heller book. It should be Catch-22 which I also have. Explicit scenes and defiance of bureaucracy.

The Public Burning - stunningly raw alternate history and satire of the Nixon Era. This book was banned by government libraries when it first came out. It is rare and difficult to find this book. I'm amazed I have a copy, but I am a big Robert Coover fan.

The Grapes of Wrath - again, history of the average working man going through a historical crisis. Why? Once again, socialism is the scapegoat. This is not the only John Steinbeck book that receives bannings - also Of Mice and Men, for similar reasons. 

Caste -  this is one of many books by black authors, both fiction and non-fiction, that is being "cast" out of some libraries. This is non-fiction, compellingly explaining the similarities between India's caste system and what blacks and other persons of color are subject to in the US. Again, DeSantis doesn't want true history taught. He wants to return to the Lost Cause Myth perpetrated originally by the United Daughters of the Confederacy at the turn of the 20th century.

The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx & Crake - two brilliant dystopian novels written by Margaret Atwood. They're fiction, but each day their themes - a regime of Christian fascists controlling women and the other showing the results of continued climate change and environmental destruction.

These are just some I could find in a couple hours of searching. There are others I have (or had), including the two dystopian novels that impacted me as a teenager - 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. My 9th-grade English teacher let me read 1984 as a special assignment, and I started a novel as an extension and sequel. Can you imagine that happening in today's schools?

In summary, if you object to a book, don't read it. If you personally don't want your child to read it, you can stop them from getting the book at the library.  

What you can't do is tell me what I can read and what my children and grandchildren can read.

Censor yourself and your family all you want. You're doing a disservice to yourself and your family, but you have the right to do that.

But stop telling other people what they can or cannot read.