I read banned books.
In fact, I taught a class about banned books when I was a literature instructor.
People in my classes were always surprised to learn there was censorship here in the U.S. The land of Free Speech.
There was censorship back when I taught the class. And the number of book challenges and book bans has increased significantly each year since then.
There was often a sigh of relief from my students when they learned it wasn’t usually widespread book bans. It didn’t seem as big a deal if a book was only banned from one school library.
It is ONLY banned from one school library.
That’s a dangerous word, ONLY.
And where does the line get crossed? When it is banned from two libraries? Three?
Even one library is too many.
It is disappointing, but not surprising, that most of the books challenged and sometimes removed from shelves are stories written by or about LGBTQ+ people. Stories written by or about Black people. Stories written by or about Indigenous people. Stories written by or about Asian people.
Silencing these voices and stories is dangerous.
Even one story removed is too many.
Too many stories have already been removed from history.
Too many voices have been silenced.
Do you read banned books? Which book is your favorite?