Book bans in the United States
A brief introduction to book bans in the United States
Throughout history, books in the United States have been a controversial topic because of their contents and influence on children.
According to Susan L. Webb, book banning is
…a form of censorship, [that] occurs when private individuals, government officials, or organizations remove books from libraries, school reading lists, or bookstore shelves because they object to their content, ideas, or themes.
Often times the context of a book ban has to do with a book that depicts violence, disrespect for authority/parents, sexual content, offensive language, material not age-appropriate, and more.
Book banning has also been for religious, commercial, political, or moral reasons.
A brief history of book bans in the United States
The first book to be banned in the United States goes as far back as 1637 for New English Canaan by Thomas Morton of Massachutsess.
Morton was Critical of the rules of the puritans and wrote a tell-all book that criticized puritan customs and traditions. The book was so critical that even more progressive New English settlers didn’t like what was said.
The book was eventually banned by the puritans making New English Canaan the first book in the United States to be banned.
1885: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, was banned immediately after publication, because a public commissioner in Concord, Massachusetts, described it as “racist, coarse, trashy, inelegant, irreligious, obsolete, inaccurate, and mindless.”
1934: Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller was banned because of its sexually explicit content and vulgarity.
1939: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck was banned by some areas of California, particularly Kern County, for what some saw as a misrepresentation of the people.
1960-present: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was banned in some schools because of racist language and content that deals with rape allegations.
To Kill a Mockingbird is still challenged presently as some schools believe it should be removed from the curriculum to promote race equality.
Books are and will continue to have some form of censorship in the U.S. as people may always disagree on what is being said.
What persuasion tactics were used to advance the Book Bans?
There are several persuasion tactics that are used for book bans and they typically can be found in three areas:
- Government
- Education
- Advocacy
Government tactics are a more blunt approach, in which the government censors a book for national security reasons.
In the case of Operation Dark Heart by Anthony Shaffer, a retired Army intelligence officer, the book was banned because it revealed secrets deemed classified and sensitive to national security.
Book bans have usually always happened in education. Some parents see schools as a form of indoctrination, so parents use the ground of, not wanting certain things to be taught to their children.
A school is threatened to have their child pulled from the school or a lawsuit if they are continued to be taught subjects the parents disagree with.
Advocacy is another tactic used to enact book bans. In the case of the Supreme Court banning books, it is usually an organization that deems books to be bad.
When we look at the book, Memoir of Hecate County by Edmund Wilson, it was petitioned to be banned by the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice because they deemed the book immoral.
Are Book Bans still an issue?
Book bans are still an issue in the United States. In almost all the cases above, they have almost always been resolved by bans being in violation of the first amendment.
However, Book bans continue to rise and there is still is not a generally accepted point of view because people in the United States have such diverse opinions and beliefs.
Some schools remove books like To Kill a Mockingbird from their curriculum so a student isn’t required to read them. The book can still be found in the school libraries.
In the case of respecting a parent's rights over their children and not violating the first amendment, this is a neutral compromise.
