BANNED BOOKS

With the rise of book bans across America, here are some contested books that you should read.

BY: Amna Faheem

The notion of banned books has been sweeping the nation for the past few years, with more and more communities inciting outrage on various literary works. According to PEN America, an organization that keeps track of the increasing number of banned books across the nation, 41 percent of banned books are LGBTQ+ related, 40 percent have prominent characters of color, and 20 percent are about race and racism.

“When that happens—feelings of uncertainty, unknowns, fear, etc—it’s a natural reaction for people to start banning what they’re scared of, to push it away. But they’re pushing away the very education that can be used to understand these topics,” said Brian Shields, a Ph. D. candidate and teaching assistant for the Banned Books course.

Here are some books that have been coming under fire recently:

The Color Purple, a novel by Alice Walker, depicts the life and trauma of Celie, an African-American woman living in rural Georgia, and her growth and evolution – personally, sexually, and intellectually – as she ages. The novel, which was banned from school libraries across America from 1984 to 2013, was argued against for its homosexuality, great violence, African history, features of rape and incest, drug use, explicit language, and sexual scenes. Despite its eventual release from the banned book list, it was banned from all Texas state prisons in 2017, due to the graphic portrayal of violence.

Inspired by the growing Black Lives Matter movement, the book The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas was banned in the town of Katy, Texas for inappropriate language, and was pulled from the school library shelves by Superintendent Lance Hindt due to racially-insensitive language. The book follows Starr Williams, an African-American teenager who goes to a predominately white private school, and her witnessing the shooting of a childhood best friend. The book touches on the all too common police brutality against young Black men, and the violence they face at the hands of the police force.

Nobel Literature prize-winner Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye, was one of the top 16 books taken off shelves in school libraries. In the school district of Wentzville, Missouri, the board voted 4-3 in favor of removing the literary works due to the inclusion of rape, incest, and pedophilia. The novel, which takes place in Lorain, Ohio, follows the story of a young African-American girl, Pecola, as she grows up following the Great Depression.

Written by Richard Wright, Native Son is about Bigger Thomas, a black man in Chicago, and his downward spiral following the accidental killing of a white woman. Thomas’s work touches on the reality of what being a Black man in America is like, and the reality of living in poverty and systematic racism. The book was banned for its “objectionable language, violence, sex, and profanity.” The book was then challenged in New Hampshire and New Jersey school districts in 1978, and in Massachusetts school districts in 1984, among a great deal of others.

Recently, Florida has been making headlines with their anti-LGBTQIA+ ideologies, banning certain books and pushing legislation that hinders education on the matter, as well as the safety and well-being of those who identify as part of the LGBTQIA community.

“It’s a very dangerous game to play,” said Shields. “...Stripping kids of these resources leads to indoctrination. These controversial topics, the things people don’t want to talk about, they’re the most important things to have conversations about.”

Lawn Boy by Johnathan Evison, shares the story of Mike Muñoz, a young, bi-racial, Mexican American, and takes us through his time of self-discovery as he struggles with issues such as racism, microaggressions, and social issues like poverty. Due to its profanity and sexual content, the book has received backlash and has been challenged or banned in the Texas Leander school district, Fairfax, Virginia school districts, and Wake County, North Carolina school district.

Maia Kobabe’s debut work, Gender Queer, is a graphic novel about the journey of a young teenager grappling with identity, sexuality, and coming out as non-binary to their community. Members of school districts like that of Sebastian, Florida have filed many complaints and continuously challenged the novel, citing the sexual content and language depicted to be inappropriate for children.

Based on his own experiences, George M. Johnson wrote All Boys Aren’t Blue, as a memoir to share their experiences growing up in New Jersey and Virginia as a queer Black man. The book shares the honest truth of those identities. However, due to the detailed scenes portraying sex, sexual assault, and the language used, it’s been one of the most challenged and banned across many libraries in American public schools, like that of the Wentzville school district in Missouri.

A good piece of advice: “If it’s important enough to ban, it’s important enough to read,” said Shields.