What if the Banned Books Movement Wins?
A Parent’s Perspective, After the Bans
I read to my kids when they were growing up. They loved it! I used to do all the voices and everything. I never believed anyone should have the right to decide what my kids could read, since that was up to each parent’s personal choice. I guess we didn’t fight hard enough when we had the chance to stop them {the book banners}. I personally never went to any of those {school board} meetings… I just didn’t think things would go this far, that this could happen in America.
- Before the book bans became real, the banners showed up in force at school board meetings. They were organized and relentless, and eventually they became the decisionmakers: they decided what our kids could read and not read.
- As soon as the states required ratings on books, many publishers complied, afraid to jeopardize their sales. The publishers who resisted were fined. After the rating system became federal law, publishers self-censored what they published to avoid pushback. You noticed that there were less and less diverse books on the shelves at all the big-box stores. No one was stocking them anymore, so the publishers stopped publishing them.
- There are no gay kids in school, or at least none who will publicly admit it. Everyone has gone back into the closet, and I don’t blame them. It’s not safe anymore to be different. Teen suicide among LGBTQ+ kids has skyrocketed.
- As an American of immigrant ancestry, I always believed in the American Dream, of all of us in this together. Well, that ship has sailed! Since the banners won, I worry that my kids will never know what it is like to see themselves reflected in the pages of a book.
- I want my kids to learn about true American history based on facts, that includes slavery and the civil rights movement, but those subjects are taboo now. Books that challenge students to learn about the past mistakes we made are simply not part of the school curriculum.
- The world hasn’t changed. The same problems we faced in the past, like bullying, depression, racism, sexual assault, war, and violence, are still here, but the bridges that books used to provide to help parents talk about difficult topics aren’t. The banners removed these books from the shelves because it made some parents “uncomfortable.”
- One complaint I hear from other parents I know is that their kids’ classmates seem to have no empathy, and bullying is rampant.
- You can still get books about actual history and injustice, but they are rare, and only found in the few used bookstores that haven’t closed already. The new “nonfiction” titles about history, if you can call them that, are leave a lot of history on the cutting room floor because of the censorship laws.
- Book burning has become a common occurrence that is actively encouraged by governments at all levels. I saw one article the other day that said there’s a bill working its way through congress to make February 14, National Book Burning Day.
- You really must watch what you say nowadays because you don’t know who might overhear you and what they’ll do if they don’t like what they hear.
- A lot of parents I know are pulling their kids out of the public school system, opting to homeschool or go private if they can afford it.
Banning books is un-American, period.
Books can’t defend themselves—they need you to defend them
This is a glimpse into a possible future if we let it.
Don’t let it.
Humans for the Right to Read What You Want