Censorship: Books & Basics
Book Censorship: Some Basics
Censorship is a controversial issue that has been the topic of conversation for generations. A number of political and cultural reasons have been given for and against suppressing books. Most basically, those in favor of book censorship contend that it protects readers from material considered harmful or inappropriate. In contrast, those who oppose censorship argue that what readers choose should be a matter of freedom left to individuals to select forthemselves.
Recently, there has been an increase in book banning in the USA. According to Pen America, around 1,648 books are banned. 40% of these bans are connected to legislation or political debates. 41% of banned titles have LGBTQ+ themes, protagonists or prominent secondary characters. 40% have protagonists or prominent secondary characters of color. Pen America has a full in-depth spreadsheet of banned books by state and topic: (https://pen.org/banned-book-list-2021-2022/). The ALA has raised recently concerns about the number of books being removed from shelves. (https://www.ala.org/advocacy/statement-regarding-censorship).
Some famous books have been banned or censored in the past.
These include:
- Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
- To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
- Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
- 1984, George Orwell
Censorship: Legal Basics
The Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of expression in the First Amendment. Questions and challenges in interpreting this fundamental principle have led to a number of important legal precedents that have guided subsequent decisions. With reqard to censorship of books, some of the most important are:
Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982). The Island Trees Union Free School District's Board of Education ordered that selected books be removed from junior and high school libraries in the district, contradicting recommendations from a committee of parents and school staff. Steven Pico brought suit in federal district court. Ultimate the Supreme Court held that school officials are limited in their ability to remove books from shelves due to the provisions of the First Amendment. (Kim, 2022; Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico by Pico)
Case v. United School District No. 233 (1995). United School District board members removed the book Annie on My Mind by Nancy Carden which is about a romantic relationship between two teenage girls. They said it was harmful and endorsed a homosexual lifestyle. The court found this in violation of the First Amendment and the benchmark case on book censorship, Pico. (Kim, 2022)
Counts v. Cedarville School District (Ark., 2003). In this case, a parent and her pastor who was on the school board objected to Harry Potter books in the high school library because of concerns about witchcraft. The school board voted to place the books in a location that students could see but not access. Students could only check the books out with parents’ permission. The court found that this violated the First Amendment. (Kim, 2022)
Some Current Initiatives and Legal Challenges:
As book bans and debates about them have increased, censorship is again hotly contested. Here are some current legal and legislative debates:
HB 1467 (Florida, 2023). Part of this bill addresses book censorship in schools. If passed, it will require all books to be free of pornography and material harmful to minors. School would also be forced to remove any book a parent or resident of the district objects to.
SB 13 (Texas, 2023). If passed this bill will allow parents to be notified every time their child checks out a book from the library and to be be given information about the book as well. This bill would also allow any books that have harmful material or material that is “inconsistent with local community values” to be removed.
Metaphors for censorship:
Boyd and Bailey (2009) argue that three metaphors disclose important truths about how censorship functions to enclose, obstruct, and even imperil.
Censorship as a barbed wire fence: Barbed wire is sharp and serves to obstruct movement in or out of a place. One can see through it but cannot get around it. This metaphor can “illuminate how censors evoke barriers to free thought and speech when they block knowledge acquisition, intellectual development, as well as creative and critical thinking by calling for books to be removed from libraries, classrooms, schools, and districts.”
Censorship as patina: A patina is a layer that forms on metals or other surfaces from age or exposure to acids. The metaphor of censorship as patina is reveals that book bannings “cover, hide, or obscure ideas that are important for deepening concepts, seeing from different perspectives, and understanding universal qualities of humans and events.”
Censorship as a dangerous tightrope: Tightrope walkers balance on a thin surface. Similarly, teachers must balance “what they know is good pedagogical practice, what their students need and want, what their students’ parents demand, and what school administrators ask them to do”. Balancing all of these influences to decide what parents and the school board consider appropriate in terms of access to books is like walking a tightrope.