Over the last nine months, more than 1,500 book bans have been implemented in US school districts.
According to a study by a non-profit writers organisation, the book bans have been a result of right-wing censorship attempts. The organisation, PEN America – which works to protect the freedom of expression – recently criticised the book bans for erasing topics that support or discuss inclusion and diversity. The organisation has stated that 1,145 books have been found to be inappropriate by right-wing representatives and activists which has resulted in the book bans.
Books that have been banned from schools and libraries include The Bluest Eye by Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison. Morrison’s book, which deals with sexual content and racism, has now been banned in 11 school districts. Many of the banned books are by non-white authors and often explore racism, sex, and most noticeably, LGBTQ+ issues. Other books that have been banned are The Colour Purple by Alice Walker, Ulysses by James Joyce, and The Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
According to Jonathan Friedman, Director of PEN America’s Free Expression and Education, “This type of data has never been tallied and quite frankly, the results are shocking.” He continued, “Challenges to books, specifically by non-white male authors, are happening at the highest rates we’ve ever seen”.
More than two-thirds of the books that have been banned so far are fiction. Non-fiction books that have been written about activists such as Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, and Nelson Mandela have also been banned in some areas. The organisation is currently collecting data to prove that there is a theme to the book bans. Friedman stated: “This is an orchestrated attack on books whose subjects only recently gained a foothold on school library shelves and in classrooms”.
Though important books are continuing to be banned, clubs are being created to defy the attempted censorship. Young adults and children around the US are forming banned book clubs to read and discuss books that have been banned from their libraries.
Words by Lucy Turquand-Young
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