Can It Happen Here? – The Return of Book-Banning and Burning in the United States
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Introduction
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PEN America, a nonprofit organization that works towards defending free expression in the United States and the world through the advancement of literature and human rights, released a formal report in April 2022 detailing over 1,000 unique books banned since July 1, 2021, spanning 86 school districts in 26 states.
Book Ban Efforts Spread Across the U.S. The New York Times, January 30, 2022
When are book bans unconstitutional? A First Amendment scholar explains Iowa Capital Dispatch, May 1, 2022
Schools nationwide are quietly removing books from their libraries The Washington Post, March 22, 2022
Asked to Delete References to Racism From Her Book, an Author Refused The New York Times, May 11, 2022
Key Incidents from the Tracker
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Georgia college students protest author’s message by burning books – October 2019
Tennessee public library fires employee for burning books by Trump and Coulter – February 2021
Texas school district removes books deemed to be “inappropriate” from reading list – March 2021
Wyoming prosecutors consider criminal charges against librarians for circulating controversial books – October 2021
Pennsylvania teen creates banned book club in response to national censorship – January 2022
Tennessee school board bans acclaimed Holocaust graphic novel Maus, author responds – January 2022
Pastor, angry citizens ask Kansas school officials to remove LGBTQ-oriented book from library shelves, effort fails – February 2022
Florida rejects math textbooks over ‘prohibited topics’ – April 2022
Wisconsin school board denies students access to book about internment of Japanese Americans during World War II – June 2022
‘Gender Queer: A Memoir’ by Maia Kobabe
How a Debut Graphic Memoir Became the Most Banned Book in the Country The New York Times, May 1, 2022
Fairfax school system pulls two books from libraries after complaints over sexual content The Washington Post, September 28, 2021
Controversial book permanently pulled from school libraries in Fort Mill WSOC-TV 9, November 19, 2021
Author of ‘Gender Queer,’ one of most-banned books in U.S., addresses controversy NBC News, December 19, 2021
‘Maus’ by Art Spiegelman
Banned by Tennessee School Board, ‘Maus’ Soars to the Top of Bestseller Charts Smithsonian Magazine, February 2, 2022
School Board in Tennessee Bans Teaching of Holocaust Novel ‘Maus’ The New York Times, January 27, 2022
Critical Incidents Across the Country
A Texas lawmaker is targeting 850 books that he says could make students feel uneasy NPR, October 28, 2021
With Rising Book Bans, Librarians Have Come Under Attack
The New York Times, July 6, 2022Youngkin ad features mother who pushed to have ‘Beloved’ banned from son’s curriculum The Hill, October 25, 2021
QAnon Pastor Holds Book Burning at His Church Vice News, February 4, 2022
Gay Couple Yells “Hail Satan!” and Burns a Bible at Christian Book Burning Them, February 8, 2022
U.S. Prisons: Another Frontier
Literature Locked Up: How Prison Book Restriction Policies Constitute the Nation’s Largest Book Ban PEN America, September 29, 2019
Censorship and Banned Book Lists in Correctional Facilities National Institute of Corrections, February 9, 2022
Michigan prisons ban Spanish and Swahili dictionaries to prevent inmate disruptions NPR, June 2, 2022
Book bans in prison cut inmates’ lifeline to outside world NBC, May 23, 2022
Reading While Incarcerated Saved Me. So Why Are Prisons Banning Books? The New York Times, August 17, 2022
Historical Analysis
The books have been burning CBC News, September 10, 2010
A Brief History of Book Burning, From the Printing Press to Internet Archives Smithsonian Magazine, August 31, 2017
1933 Book Burnings United States Holocaust Museum
Pro / Con
Below are select commentaries featuring additional opinions on the issue. When reading, identify the author’s key arguments and how their perspective fits into the book banning trend more broadly—while at first glance the pieces below may seem strictly for or against book censorship, the points made by each author are more nuanced.
How To Keep Library Porn From Kids Without Banning Books The Federalist, January 19, 2022
There’s More Than One Way to Ban a Book The New York Times, July 24, 2022
The Many Faces of Literary Censorship by Kat Rosenfield, March 28, 2022
Book bans are threatening American democracy. Here’s how to fight back. The Washington Post, August 9, 2022
Do Liberals Care if Books Disappear? The New York Times, March 6, 2021
To ban books (such as ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’) is to turn away from history Washington Examiner, October 17, 2017
A different book battle Washington Examiner, May 17, 2022
Reading While Incarcerated Saved Me. So Why Are Prisons Banning Books? The New York Times, August 17, 2022
Why I banned a book: How censorship can impact a learning community by Scott DiMarco, July 2013
Discussion Questions
- What published content, if any, might justify a book being banned or restricted from schools, libraries, etc.?
- To what extent do recent book bannings fit into broader US political and social trends?
- Regarding the public education system, should members of local school boards have the power to control the course material taught in their schools? How does the distribution of educational administrative powers across federal, state, and local governments affect book bannings? Furthermore, what rights do parents have in controlling what their children are taught and exposed to in public education?
- Should book burning be considered a symbolic demonstration and thus an act of Free Speech, or an act of censorship?
- When considering incarcerated populations, do federal and state governments have freer legal grounds to ban published materials from circulating in prisons? Are there greater legal obstacles when censoring the same materials in non-incarcerated populations?
- Among proponents of book banning, to what extent does their perception of a book’s content and its effects on readers, align or not align with the actual content of a banned book? How have social and cultural perceptions distorted the “true meaning” or purpose of a publication? Is there an objective “true meaning” or intent of every published work?
- Are writers whose books are banned from schools, libraries, etc. having their right to Free Speech restricted?
- Are individuals who are unable to read a book because their local or state government has banned it having their right to Free Speech restricted?
- How can banned books be reinstated in libraries and public school curricula? Should banned books be reinstated?
Activity
Click on these themes below: Artistic Expression + Legal Action + Identity
Discuss: What does this confluence of stories with these filters tell us about free speech issues and book bannings in America? Free speech and the availability of information?
Tracker Entries
This course module was prepared by Logan Richman ’25, a sophomore in the Georgetown School of Foreign Service from New Jersey. He serves as the principal research assistant for the Free Speech Project, and also plays the jazz trombone.