Banned Books Week

This glorious week falls at the end of every September. Jonah Goldberg recently wrote an op-ed for USA Today (Text) that decried much of the attention given to the occasion. I think it's his conclusion that really irks me (as he's not completely wrong leading up to the point, which makes me even more disgusted that I agree, in part, with Jonah Goldberg):

"These days, teachers unions are fond of claiming that apathetic parents deserve more of the blame for the woeful state of education today. Maybe so. But a national policy of bullying parents interested in what their kids are reading hardly seems like the best way to encourage them. Indeed, from these numbers, the real scandal might be that so few books are "banned or challenged."

 I won't even touch the obvious point of apathetic parents "maybe" deserving some of the blame for their kids' inability to learn. The idea that not enough books are banned or challenged is ridiculous. If we're talking about elementary to junior high aged kids, there's a little merit to this, but I would assume those libraries rarely carry books that aren't age appropriate. I wouldn't expect to find "Madame Bovary" in the hands of a sixth grader, but if I saw that, I'd assume the child was either wicked smart or had parents that were deeply involved in that child's education. That's a win/win despite the more adult content within the book. Of course, Goldberg doesn't give any examples of books that should be banned more often, leaving the argument to hang in the air without giving any real textual examples as evidence.

"As an author myself, I'm all for making book-reading more attractive to young people. Banned Books Week seems in part designed to make book-reading seem "subversive." That's admirable. But Banned Books Week has less admirable themes as well. As an educational enterprise, it denigrates the United States as a backward, censorial country when it's anything but. It demeans parents and other citizens who take an interest in the schools. And it attempts to elevate the judgment of professional librarians to unimpeachable heights — the same librarians who've sometimes pushed to allow nearly unfettered access to porn in public libraries. Fighting mythical censorship with real propaganda hardly seems like a worthwhile trade."

The idea that Banned Books Week is meant to "make book-reading seem 'subversive'" is laughable at best, especially considering most parents teach their children to do the right thing as opposed to bucking the system whenever possible purely to rage against it. Like every other Awareness Week or Month out there (Breast Cancer, Black History, Water Polo Appreciation, Whatever), the week is meant to highlight the fact that there ARE books unavailable to those who may be interested in them. How's a kid going to know about, ironically, "Farenheit 451" unless someone brings it to their attention?


Goldberg's logic equates to Black History Month as being some kind of plot by the Black Panthers to brainwash white folk (it's not). Thanks to some school systems (see: the South), there's a very serious white- and straight-washing of history, moreso than we've seen in the past 30 years, to EXCLUDE the individuals who've helped create this melting pot of a country. Kids need to know who Martin Luther King and Malcom X were and why both men approached the Civil Rights movement in the ways they did. Don't we want to teach our kids how to see two sides of the same coin so they can see the results of both and make their own decisions? Teaching "Huckleberry Finn" BECAUSE OF, not in spite of, the word "nigger" showing up repeatedly in the text can teach kids the evolution and etymology of the word from a simple descriptor to its current negative and derogatory nature. The context of the word between then and now is something that needs to be explained and discussed, period.





Goldberg also refutes the idea that we might be some kind of "backward, censorial country." Well, we are. Christian groups screamed bloody murder and protested the Harry Potter books because there was witchcraft inside them. Of course, had they actually read the books, the themes and teachings of Christ were (intentionally or not) layered throughout the intricate story of Harry, Hermoine, and Ron across all seven books. I wonder if C.S. Lewis got this kind of response when his Chronicles of Narnia series came out...despite the biblical allegory of every book being overt and obvious to the point of being beat over the head with religious teaching. My guess is probably not, even though most of the books were steeped in magic and wizardry.

I disagree with his assertion that many of us left-leaning people believe book banning to be an epidemic right now, and I certainly disagree that the week elevates the judgment of professional librarians to an unimpeachable level. Though, if I were asked, I'd put more faith in the judgment of elementary and junior high school librarians as to what's appropriate for those ages against the book knowledge of a good number of the parents making so much noise. There was nothing my mom wouldn't let me read, if I remember correctly. I can't recall a specific book that I wasn't allowed to read and if there was, I either didn't know it or she didn't know I had it. Regardless, the fact that I was simply a voracious reader at a young age didn't bother her. In fact, she fostered that habit over the course of many summers.

Goldberg's idea of mythical censorship vs. real propaganda is just silly. By his own accounting, some 348 books were banned or challenged last year, though the number averages around 400-500 a year. That's still a sizable number and hardly mythical. The only one spewing propaganda is Goldberg himself, using one instance of, ironically, First Amendment rights on pornography in public libraries as a piece of evidence that somehow becomes indicative of all libraries and librarians within them. This is obviously absurd and such an extreme bit of proof that his entire argument falls flat. Public libraries are publicly funded and attract all patrons of all ages. School libraries would never allow that, nor would any court of any level find that pornography was an acceptable thing to be accessed at those ages (considering one must be 18+ to get into most strip clubs or buy nudie mags at the moment). The argument is weak and that's an understatement.

Read a book, banned or otherwise. Just don't buy into the ridiculous notion that Banned Book Week is some subversive movement meant to brainwash your children.

(1,916)