The History Behind Book Bans
Schools nationwide generally encourage enhanced literacy and comprehension when reading books. School curricula mandate that students read certain books at different grade levels. However, when active book bans affect schools in multiple states, children lose access to the literature and proper education they deserve.
In recent years, book bans have increased based on content in books ranging from foul language, involvement of LGBTQIA+, sexual activity, race, and historical events. Local Boards of Education are the ones responsible for banning various books from schools. In January 2024, a Florida school district even pulled dictionaries and encyclopedias as part of an “inappropriate” content review “to ensure compliance with the new legislation [HB 1069].”
For centuries, people have tried different ways of banning books, like burning them, throwing them away, or prohibiting the public from reading them. Because knowledge is power, people didn’t want others to access those books and gain that knowledge. They believed stripping that access away from the public would stop them from educating themselves or speaking their mind.
Book bans and burnings also have infamous historical ties related to the Holocaust. On May 10, 1933, Nazis began burning books, attempting to censor anything that they claimed went against German culture. Targeting gay and trans folk, Nazis first burned books and research on LGBTQIA+ people from the German Institute of Sexology, wanting to control people’s beliefs about them.
And it’s happening again as this administration conducts a digital book burning. Targeting minority communities, they started their assault with trans folk, women, and people of color, and erased them from government pages and documents, citing “DEI” in their reasoning.
Banned Books List
If you enter a Barnes and Noble bookstore, you’ll likely find a “Banned Books” section. They even have that same section on their website. Looking at that list, it includes a lot of classic literature. Some include ‘The Catcher in the Rye,’ ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ ‘The Diary of a Young Girl,’ ‘Fahrenheit 451’, and many more. It’s ironic that ‘Fahrenheit 451,’ a book about censorship and burning books, is a banned book.
An important book on the “Banned Books” list is ‘The Diary of a Young Girl.’ It’s about Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl forced into hiding for two years when Adolf Hitler and the Nazis took over Germany and many other countries. They implemented a mass genocide of Jewish people, the LGBTQIA+ community, disabled folks, and anybody who was against their beliefs. Frank’s diary speaks of the hope but also the loss she feels as a young adolescent living in a terrible time in history.
According to PEN America, during the 2023-2024 school year, Florida banned 4,500 books. Iowa followed close behind with an estimated 3,600 bans. This intense book ban affects children because they won’t develop critical thinking skills and empathy. Without the different perspectives that books like Anne Frank’s Diary offer, they grow up thinking certain subjects are too sensitive to discuss.
Here’s a current list of banned books.
Withstand anti-literature campaigns and book bans by collecting the books they are trying to ban and supporting your local libraries. With this administration threatening to cut funding for libraries, our library districts need our support now more than ever.
Local Bookstore Analog Dope Reacts to Increasing Book Bans
For bookstores, it’s an important time in history to fill the gaps that book bans are leaving behind. One local bookstore, located in the heart of the Las Vegas Arts District, The Analog Dope Store is Black women-/LGBTQ-owned and operated. This lovingly curated bookstore and vinyl record shop strives to “raise the consciousness of creative communities through artistic platforms, education, and culture.”
Thoughts on Book Bans
Owners and partners, Rachelle “Analog LUST” Luster and Cierra “Charlie Muse” Luster, shared their thoughts on book bans happening across America.
“Analog Dope believes that the book banning across America is pursued by a small group of people who are insecure in their efforts to protect their children. It’s also political. Some books contain perspectives that encourage critical thinking and those that are banning books don’t want critical thought. Book banning is ultimately rooted in fear and a lack of empathy and understanding of the spectrum of the human experience,” they said. “Now granted, there are definitely things children should not be reading, however, the decision should be left up to each child’s parent solely, not a small group of people making these decisions for all. There are biases they have that are not shared by all, and we don’t believe it is fair to subject everyone to these biases. Overall, book bans attempt to silence groups of people and erase the diverse existence of human experiences.”
The Impacts of These Bans
The Lusters also shared how they foresee book bans impacting students, teachers, and readers in general.
“Students will be unable to explore the diverse perspectives of the human experience, ultimately having their minds shaped and molded through missing pieces, biases, lack of context, and history. Teachers will be forced to whitewash curriculum/information or omit it altogether to make a group of people feel comfortable,” they shared. “Readers will be affected in the same way as students; by having limited information available, you recreate truth. The truth becomes whatever is crafted for them.”
The Luster’s Favorite Banned Books
The Lusters also shared what their personal favorite banned books were and what caused those book bans. Charlie’s favorite is ‘Charlotte’s Web,’ which was banned by a radical Christian-led group. The reason? They called the book blasphemous because the animals talk and animals aren’t supposed to talk. For Rachelle, her favorite is ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ by Maya Angelou. After reading it in middle school as part of the curriculum, it surprised her to learn it became banned due to the graphic nature of the abuse Angelou endured growing up.
“It’s an autobiography, a person’s life story attempting to be silenced,” Rachelle explained. “The issues raised in the book need to be discussed as child abuse of all kinds is commonplace and silence is the main reason why it continues.”
How Analog Dope Supports the Community
Charlie and Rachelle created Analog Dope to be a safe space and incubator for critical thought, empathy, and appreciation for the entire human experience. They shared how they cultivate this through shelving books of diverse nature and empowering the spirit of the reader.
“We seek to expand the importance of connectivity and raise the vibration of the community. More than the books and vinyl records we offer, we have shaped a sacred space for the forgotten, the shy, the rambunctious, the thinker, the silenced; all walks of life are welcomed and seen in our space,” they said. “We know division as a people is more dangerous than any other threat to our existence. Representation empowers the otherwise powerless, and we over-understand that.”
Visit Analog Dope’s website to shop for your next read, including selections from their banned books category, and more. Stay in touch with them by signing up for their email list and following them on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Visit the shop at 205 E. Colorado Ave. in Downtown Las Vegas Sunday and Monday 12 PM – 4 PM, and Thursday through Saturday 11 AM – 5 PM. The store closes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
You can also learn more about the business and the Lusters in the magazine’s previous highlight of them here!
(Article continues after the ad)
Please follow our fantastic site sponsors! They make content like this possible! 🙂
School Curricula Banning Children’s Books
School districts nationwide are implementing book bans targeting a wide range of topics they deem “inappropriate,” with states like Florida leading the assault on literature. Even children’s picture books aren’t safe from these book bans if the story isn’t deemed “child-friendly.”
For example, ‘And Tango Makes Three’ is a heartwarming story of two male penguins linking together during mating season in a zoo. They’re given a baby penguin egg to take care of, and once the baby chick hatches, they raise her as their child. The story shows how a family doesn’t have to be a mom and dad raising their children, but partners of any gender are capable of being parents to their biological or adopted child. PEN America states that ‘And Tango Makes Three’ has seven book bans.
Jo Yurcaba, a reporter for NBC News, writes about what schools are trying to prohibit students from reading in her article called “Students and Authors Sue Florida School District That Banned A Book About Two Male Penguins.”
In it, she explains, “Last year, the school board in Lake County, near Orlando, barred students who are in kindergarten through third grade from accessing ‘And Tango Makes Three,’ a 2005 book based on a true story about two male penguins at New York City’s Central Park Zoo who adopted and raised an orphaned penguin chick named Tango.”
Banning Books Under the Guise of Parental Rights
In Yurcaba’s article, she explained that “The district said at the time that its decision was based on Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, which prohibits ‘classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity” in kindergarten through third grade ‘or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.’ Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the measure, which critics dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law, in March 2022.”
States like Florida argue their book bans with the notion of “parental rights.” The Parental Bill of Rights Act Florida recently passed enables parents to ask and challenge what books their kids can read in primary and secondary schools.
The bill outlines that parents have the right to be heard, to know what’s being taught, to see the school budget and spending, and to protect their child’s privacy. It also grants parents “the right to know if the state alters the state’s academic standards [and] the right to a list of books and other reading materials contained in the library of their child’s school and the right to inspect those books and other reading materials.”
You can read more about this and other concerning bills Florida Governor Ron DeSantis passed in recent years in an article previously published by the magazine in July 2023.
The Implications of Book Bans
Ongoing book bans like this mirror history and enable fascism. People forget that the authors of these books are using their freedom of speech to write a story that sends a message to those who care about learning that message. School districts banning literature effectively violate authors’ freedom of speech and the freedom of students who wish to read those books.
Moreover, by banning books that some parents (and even people without kids) deem inappropriate for their children to read, they effectively remove those books from other children whose parents might not agree that they’re inappropriate. Pulling books from library shelves, book bans strip literature on history, diversity, and other important topics from kids across the board at all age levels.
As a result, they might never learn that the people who ban books are never the good guys and have never been on the right side of history. And with history repeating itself, it’s more important than ever that we teach history instead of hiding it.
Thank you to our supporters and sponsors!
Our magazine is reader-supported! If you enjoyed our content, please join our Patreon community!
As always, we want to thank our Patreon ‘Cultivator’ supporters and sponsors who help make content like this possible.
The following Patron(s) supported the production of this article:
Crystal
The following sponsors supported the production of this article:
Viva La Compost
