Professional Development: Off the Shelf

Maribeth Nottingham

Book Banning in 21st-Century America

A Review

“Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak just because a baby can’t chew it.” Attributed to Mark Twain, but unsourced

“

Books are a uniquely portable magic ” Stephen King (2000)

Book Banning in the 21st Century America (2015), is not a book I would have my undergraduates read before heading off to become teachers. It is not an easy read, but it is deep.

Written by Emily L. M. Knox,

an assistant professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, this informational text was part of her dissertation research. This is not the first time Dr. Knox has written on book banning. Her mother was a high school media specialist and would bring home banned books and encourage Emily to use them for book reports. It is sort of…in her DNA! One of those books was Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Interestingly, that book was recently made into a movie, out now in theaters near you!

Here is a little history. Book banning has been taking place since somewhere around 259210 B.C. Confucian scholars were documenting the work of Confucius, and the Emperor of China ordered the books to be burned. He was not a fan of Confucius. Books have been banned for disagreements over philosophies, for religious beliefs, even for political reasons. Today, the discussions center mostly around the topic of keeping our children safe/innocent. Whether for age appropriateness, sex/pornography, discrimination, racism, and even political correctness, people are finding reasons why hundreds of books should be banned.

In her book, Knox discusses the discourse of censorship and shares information on many of the challenge cases brought to the attention of school boards starting in 2007. She conducted interviews with people on both sides of the issue; she shares that getting people to talk about their beliefs on the issue is often problematic. One point she makes that I found especially intriguing was how the challengers view themselves. They feel strongly they are doing the right thing for children. They are driven by this sense of justice. They take the topic to heart.

In the book, Dr. Knox is good at sharing “real-life” stories and situations while tucking in the history and research. In chapter five, Dr. Knox shares her personal thoughts on why books matter. She also states that many of those she interviewed, or who speak out, have a personal relationship with books. Books are important to them; yet they have a conflicting passion for the information found in books. This was so interesting to me. They are NOT ignorant of the importance or the action of reading. However, it seems that challengers are NOT necessarily open to other interpretations of text. Their attitude is somewhat “their way or the highway” when it comes to interpretation.

Finally, Dr. Knox shares with us in chapter 6 that Challengers’ world views are quite complex. “They believe society is viewed as a fragile backbone that is under attack from immoral forces while parenting is considered to be the boundary setting role within the social moral order.” Parents for the most part are just trying to do a good job of protecting their “innocent” children. It is their job! These statements allowed me to get a feeling of shared community; I am a parent, and a grandparent. BUT does the parent setting a boundary for one child, mean that said parent also has the right, the obligation, to do so for everyone else’s “innocent” children.

This book contains challenge cases, pictures, methodological notes, a chart of challenge cases, references, and some excellent thought-provoking information. It is deep, probably too deep for my undergraduates, as stated previously. It is an interesting and much needed read for someone who desires to be an advocate, like me.

References

King, S. (2000). On writing: A memoir of the craft. Mass Market Paperback.

Knox, E. L. M. (2015). Book banning in 21st-Century America. Rowman and Littlefield.

Mary Elizabeth (Maribeth) Nottingham is an associate professor at Southeastern Oklahoma State University at Durant, OK, where she also serves as the Early Childhood Coordinator. She currently serves as co-editor of The Oklahoma Reader. She can be reached at mnottingham@se.edu.