10,000[1], That’s the number of books that have been banned in the United States since 2021. That’s 10,000 books students are no longer allowed to read, books that will be pulled from shelves and hidden, as if we should be ashamed of their contents.
And for what? Well, there are lots of heinous crimes that a collection of papers could have committed. It could have mentioned that gay or transgender people exist, or that slavery happened, or, God forbid, somebody might have said a curse word. As you can see, very disturbing stuff.
These bans not only hurt the authors of the books, but the people they’re about as well. By hiding and banning any mention of minorities and their struggles, such as Mexican Whiteboy and Dear Martin, it negates their experiences and can foster feelings of resentment instead of compassion.
Wilsonville is proud to say we haven’t banned a single book, but students notice what’s happening elsewhere. “I think banning books makes people feel more trapped,” says Taylor Crawford, a Wilsonville senior. “If a student likes a book and then it’s banned, it’s kind of taking away their choice.”
The removal of books written by or discussing marginalized groups isn’t new. It was a common occurrence in a certain European country in the 1930s. Nazi Germany banned and then burned any book it deemed anti-German. They destroyed any books written by Jewish authors as well as any that contained “Decadence or moral corruption.[2]”
Fear prevented many from speaking out, and without books to aid in their absence, there were no voices left to fight the atrocities that were to come. While book bans didn’t singlehandedly build a Nazi state, it was an early warning sign, with the burning of banned books occurring as early as 1933[3].
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes. Nazi Germany banned books for being “anti-German.” America has banned books for being “anti-American.” For example, All American Boys was pulled from several districts for criticizing police brutality. A topic some see as unpatriotic.
It’s a noble goal to try to protect children from topics believed to be immoral or inappropriate, but the fact is, America is a very diverse country, and the literature available should reflect that. It’s also not any person’s job to police the reading habits of other people’s children.
“My big thing is, if you don’t want to read a book, or you don’t want your kids to read a book, you don’t have to read it. That’s what libraries are for. You can always return a book if you don’t like it,” says Mrs. Coreson, the Wilsonville librarian.
Lastly, in this article, I compared the actions of the US today to Nazi Germany in the 1930s. My goal was not to be alarmist or to declare that America and the Nazis are interchangeable. I merely wanted to bring to light the actions of both and compare the similarities.