A Certain Point of View, Too

A Quick Thought: Book Bans

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by

Alex Diaz-Granados
in , , , ,

Image by Rafael Juárez from Pixabay

As a student of history, I can assure you of one thing: Individuals or groups who want to ban books are not on the side of good.

Conservatives in McMinn County, Tennessee, banned Maus from the eighth-grade curriculum. Book bans, whether they’re instigated by the extreme left (the Communists) or the extreme right (the fascists), are one of the earliest warning signs of authoritarian creep. (C) 1996 Pantheon Books. Cover art by Art Spiegelman
Photo by Azamat Hatypov on Pexels.com

Comments

4 responses to “A Quick Thought: Book Bans”

  1. schingle Avatar
    schingle

    Says it all. We need to stop the ultra-right from book banning (and just about everything else on their agenda). Thanks for the reminder, Alex!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Alex Diaz-Granados Avatar
      Alex Diaz-Granados

      I wish I didn’t have to write stuff like this in 2023 America.

      And yet, here we are!

      Thanks for stopping by, Schingle!

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Patti Aliventi Avatar
    Patti Aliventi

    I love the argument “the books aren’t banned, you can go out and buy them anywhere in America.” Yet we’re stopping English teachers from teaching some great classic literature. I remember reading Animal Farm and 1984 with my high school English class and it was great. It was also the first time I read Faulkner who I grew to like quite a bit. And Catcher in the Rye – I identified then and now with Holden Caulfield. Yet we’re taking that away from young adults and are ready to put teachers – whose ranks are already thinned out – in jail for teaching about these books. How did we end up here?

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    1. Alex Diaz-Granados Avatar
      Alex Diaz-Granados

      70 years or more of conservatism becoming more extreme, I think. The U>S. has gone through wild electoral swings from left to right throughout its existence, but I think it’s getting worse.

      Liked by 1 person