Banned Books: Have You Read One?

  Usually when someone thinks of “print media”, the first image that comes to mind is books. Books originally came about in the time of antiquity, when the Ancient Egyptians wrote on papyrus, a plant grown along the Nile River, over 5000 years ago. In the 5th century A.D., manuscripts were being written, and in the 15th century, Gutenberg invented the printing press, allowing books to be published more quickly and effectively. Books have traditionally held a lot of power, in that they have the ability to reveal information to a reader, influence one’s opinions, and can encourage one to take action on a particular issue. For these reasons, certain books have historically been banned in the United States, in an effort to prevent the ideas that the book could potentially instill in an audience from making its way to the reader.

 Some of the books that have been banned might be surprising to you. Some of these books might have been on your high school curriculum and others you might have read at leisure, not knowing that reading this certain book was at one time against the rules. Of these, include I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou, which has been banned from multiple school and local libraries due to the themes of lesbianism, premarital cohabitation, pornography, and violence, and also for a supposed “anti-white” message which many believed would spread hatred and encourage action against the white race. Also, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck was banned for being “too profane”, and To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee for it's negative portrayal of the white race.
   Another book banned in American history was The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck in 1939, which was banned months after it’s publication in Kansas City and in Oklahoma because of the language that was present in the book. In St. Louis, Missouri, a library ordered its 3 copies to be burned for the vulgar words used by its characters. In addition, Uncle Tom's Cabin published in 1852, was immediately banned in the South as abolitionist propaganda. Throughout the 20th century and even within the recent years, people of all backgrounds continue to challenge the book's inclusion on school reading lists, citing objectionable language and the condemnation of Christianity practiced by white preachers and congregations as prime reasons.
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     The banning of books because of the potential for information to alter or influence knowledge and understanding is obviously not something new, and surprisingly also not that complicated to bring about. In the United States, when someone reads a book they consider questionable, they have the power to insist that the book be considered to be banned. Groups in power, spanning from a local school, a state government, or a censor board such as the Anti-Defamation League, all the way to the Supreme Court, then have the ability to meet and discuss whether the value of the book itself exceeds the objection against it. If it is found that the book causes more harm than good, an order can be made for the banning of the book.
    After reflecting on the concepts of “information overload” and “filter failure”, it is important to remember these cases where pieces of information were not available to everyone in the public. The internet, which provides us today with an expansive amount of information, and which we often take for granted, was not around during the time most of these books that were banned. This means that when a book was banned from the local libraries and book stores, one could not simply go online to download an e-version of a book, or simply click a button and order one to be delivered from a different location. More often than not, that book and the information it contained simply just could not be made available to them. It is important to both appreciate the information we have access to today, and fight to prevent the banning of books and the subsequent information these books have to offer.