Wednesday, 21 September 2022

Can I Expect a Book Ban?

The organisation, Pen America, estimate that more than 1600 books have been banned in some 5000 US schools by 32 states (https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/sep/19/us-school-book-censorship-bans-pen-america). 40% of the banned books deal with race and/or discussion of US racial history. Just having a prominent 'character of color', can apparently be enough to have a book tossed into the reject pile (Tom Sawyer?). 30% of bans, concern books dealing with LGBTQ+ issues and/or characters. One might suspect that topics like evolution and pregnancy will be 'reasons' in some of the remaining cases. Pen America conclude that the book banning is a coordinated campaign 'being waged by sophisticated, ideological and well-resourced advocacy organizations'. It's sad that young people are being prevented from being exposed to particular issues. Didn't Hitler do something similar? What happened to 'freedom of expression' in 'the land of the free'? It seems, however, very likely my book will escape a US school ban. It's a bit obscure and much too technical!

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