Censorship in Literature
All About the 'Book Ban' and Why You Should Care About it
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A Little About Myself & The Project
A Little About Myself & The Project
My name is Katherine Burgos and I am currently a sophomore English Secondary Education Major at the College of New Jersey. As an English education major, I find that the literature available to students is crucial to their education. I was raised in Hackensack, New Jersey, and something pretty crucial to that area is that it is culturally and ethnically diverse. Throughout my secondary education, I was reading books that are now considered to be "banned" in the United States. Many of these books include stories from Black authors, LGBTQ+ narratives, historical events, sexual abuse, etc. Every year, hundreds if not thousands of books are banned nationwide, and some of these books are ones that we would consider "classics" or essential to education. As a future English teacher, I firmly believe that students should read literature from Black and LGBTQ+ authors, or should read stories about experiences that may differ from their own. There are important stories that deserve to be told and these stories often lie in the books that are considered banned. I fear that eventually I will have to deal with the book ban in my classroom, with either libraries being stripped from classrooms, or being heavily censored on topics I can discuss with my students. By researching the book ban, I have been able to hear from both students and teachers to see how they have combatted this and gain insight on what action to take in the future.
This first article is just from the perspsective of a scholar discussing the book ban. Before I dive into the pedagogical perspective, I wanted to give an academic perspective to explain just what exactly this book ban is about. Jonathan E. Collins goes on to explain that this book ban dates all the way back to Chinese Emperors and the Roman Catholic Church and their list of banned books that they maintained. In terms of book banning in the United States, one of the first instances we can observe dates back to over one hundred years ago in 1920 in California: Where a debate broke out regarding whether or not the King James Bible should be included in a school library. This then led to multiple other court cases which debated whether certain books should be accessible to students. Many of the concern surrounding these books were hate speech and violence, however, it has now spread to attack LGBTQ literature and literature from Non-White authors. Collins overall emphasizes that we should not focus on keeping books out of wrong hands, yet rather focus on keeping books available for the right hands.
This TED Talk, given by two seventeen year old students from York, Pennsylvania, Christina Ellis and Edha Gupta, discuss how a ban on books took away from their cultures. This ban on books regarding various ethnic backgrounds had caused ignorance to Christina and Edha, both students of color, who faced prejudice and racism in their own school district. Upon finding out about this book ban, they organized protests in their community that ended up gaining national attention. I found that this resource was important to include in this project because it comes directly from the perspective of students who are being affected by this book ban. As a future educator, this video reminds me to encourage literature and texts from people of color to share their stories; the stories that the book ban directly attacks. Additionally, it also brings up the importance of speaking out against book banning and the silencing of voices. As a future educator, I strive to amplify the voices of my students.
What I like most about this article is that it was only written last year, in 2022, and all of this information is as relevant as it gets. This article discusses Critical Race Theory, or CRT. The article opens the discussion on how the first amendment rights of teachers are in danger. This article does not directly mention the book ban, but it gives background on why this ban happens to attack books about race and other groups. The reason being for this is the Critical Race Theory Ban which has hit schools across the nation. Due to this, books about race have been taken off of library shelves, and extends further to prevent teachers from talking about race. In an example from the article, Mary Lindsay Krebs mentions that students in a journalism class in the Hazelwood School District were told they cannot write about topics such as pregnant teen students, birth control, or divorce. I found this article to be beneficial to the idea of the book ban because it dives deeper into the reasons behind it, and that is because the nation does not want to be portrayed negatively in terms of race, and many conservatives believe that if we do not teach it, then the nation cannot in any way be at fault. This article overall declares that changes be made in the courts that rule pedagogy to ensure that we do not silence conversations about race or other topics that could be considered "sensitive".
Keeping children engaged in reading is hard enough, and a Florida teacher, Ms. Phillips claims that if she cannot have a diverse selection of books that represents all of her students, then it is impossible to get them interested in reading. This video, originally shown on CBS Evening News a few months ago, truly demonstrates the effect of the book ban on students in Florida. As seen in the image above, classroom libraries are left completely empty, The reason being for this is new laws that require all books to be heavily inspected, and any books that will be in libraries in grades K-3 cannot feature discussions about race, gender, sexual orientation, or pornography. One thing that particularly stood out to me that I would love to use in my future classroom is having a library that represents all of my students. Students are more engaged when they are reading something that they can relate to, whether that be in terms of race, gender, experience, or other factors. Despite this video targeting elementary schools, it still remains important to me as a future secondary education teacher because the same exact thing could easily happen in a secondary school.
This article, directly states that districts that implement book banning are often seeking conformity, and they do this by excluding texts that are "controversial". What exactly does this do for students though? As students prepared for book banning hearings in a local district, these teachers were now more than teachers. They were mentors and figures of advocacy. This group of teachers behind the article put together a series of mock book-banning trials to highlight the impact it has on students and get their honest feedback on books that may be seen as "controversial". This is an approach that I have not seen before when it comes to banning books, and I think it truly allows students to voice their opinions on banning texts. Yes, you could just have a discussion with your students, but this lesson and mock-trial is far more significant and will likely stick with the students throughout their education. Additionally, these mock trials had parents, other teachers, and also actual board of education members in attendance, which allowed the voices of these students to be heard from multiple perspectives. For my own future career, these hands on experiences are imperative to teaching students, especially secondary students. I find that these students are starting to come out of their shells and really begin to become passionate about pressing issues. By giving my students hands-on experiences such as the mock trials outlined in this article, I can hopefully create life-long lessons that extend further than just the classroom.
This article, directly states that districts that implement book banning are often seeking conformity, and they do this by excluding texts that are "controversial". What exactly does this do for students though? As students prepared for book banning hearings in a local district, these teachers were now more than teachers. They were mentors and figures of advocacy. This group of teachers behind the article put together a series of mock book-banning trials to highlight the impact it has on students and get their honest feedback on books that may be seen as "controversial". This is an approach that I have not seen before when it comes to banning books, and I think it truly allows students to voice their opinions on banning texts. Yes, you could just have a discussion with your students, but this lesson and mock-trial is far more significant and will likely stick with the students throughout their education. Additionally, these mock trials had parents, other teachers, and also actual board of education members in attendance, which allowed the voices of these students to be heard from multiple perspectives. For my own future career, these hands on experiences are imperative to teaching students, especially secondary students. I find that these students are starting to come out of their shells and really begin to become passionate about pressing issues. By giving my students hands-on experiences such as the mock trials outlined in this article, I can hopefully create life-long lessons that extend further than just the classroom.
People in the United States and around the world are encouraged to celebrate their cultures, but how is this possible when censorship campaigns for books attack Ethnic Studies programs? Book banning, as mentioned, especially targets conversations about race. The main issue about this is to protect white students, but what about minority urban youth? This article dives into the conversation about minority urban youth and urban schools and how they have been affected by banning books. Many, if not all, of the banned books mentioned in this article concern race, race theory, or rethinking history, For example, rethinking Christopher Columbus, a man who we are expected to celebrate, but in reality took extreme advantage of Indigenous Peoples. Things like this would not be taught becuase of the book ban, and in most places they are not being taught. Book banning erases history, and urban schools are greatly suffering. I thought this article was a great addition to this project since I have given some thought to teaching and majoring in Urban Education. Additionally, we have discussed urban education in detail throughout our course. What this article brings to the table is steering away from "Whitestream schooling". The term 'Whitestream schooling' refers to the use of texts and other methods of teaching that are founded on the principles of White Supremacy. These teachings are not beneficial to students who are not white, and even to white students they just cover up stories that should be shared in the classroom. By steering away from this "Whitestream schooling", I can hopefully guide my students in the right direction when it comes to history and literature.
Why Is this Important?
Why Is this Important?
In short, the banning of books takes away from critical conversations and representation of all students. If all students cannot see themselves or see their culture represented, the motivation for completion of school work will dramatically decrease. Since coming to college, I have learned that a key component of literature and English classes is what we call the Canon. Lots of these banned books break this canon, which include being white, a man, straight, and other representations of what society deems as "normal" or "typical". And in reality, not everyone is going to be the same race, have the same ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or history. It is just an unrealistic standard to have, and it is even more unrealistic for children to read from authors all from the same identity. Additionally, students should have access to books at their schools. The book ban is leaving thousands of classrooms across the United States empty and leave students without books to read. Whether you realize it or not, reading makes up a great deal of education. From what I can remember of elementary school, I was always reading, whether it be individually or aloud as a class. And in high school, reading was essential to nearly all of my classes of various subjects. The book ban is doing more harm to students than good, and if it continues, what will students be left with? Current and future generations are suffering, and action needs to be taken to confront and hopefully halt the ban on books in the United States.
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