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https://www.writersandeditorsofcolor.com/why-we-must-do-more-than-buy-banned-books-to-challenge-racism-1ad09dff317f>
'Banning books is something you would expect to see in a fascist dystopia, not
in America, a nation that boasts about being the "land of the free and the home
of the brave" in its anthem, but it's happening all the same. According to the
American Library Association, 1,269 attempts have been made to "censor library
books and resources," and 2,570 unique titles were targeted in 2022, a 38%
increase from the previous year. Moreover, a whopping 90% of the book titles
listed "were part of attempts to censor multiple titles." As Elizabeth A.
Harris wrote for the
New York Times, in the "backlash to the racial
reckoning, conservative publishers" saw "gold," profiting off many White
Americans' fear over a changing demographic and the elevation of marginalized
voices.
So, who's responsible? Besides elected officials like conservative Floria
Governor Ron DeSantis, who declared a "war on woke," research shows parents,
political organizations, religious groups, school boards, and administrations,
and even some librarians and teachers sought to remove books written about or
for Black, and Indigenous people, people of color, as well as the LGBTQ+
community. As a result, a campaign of fear and racial and religious intolerance
has cast a dark cloud over the country. But these ideas have been with us all
along. White men founded America, and everyone else has had to fight for their
inclusion. So, it doesn't come as a surprise that some White men in positions
of power are continuing the tradition of drowning out minority voices.
Nevertheless, it is cause for concern.
In response to widespread censorship efforts, many publishers have encouraged
readers to push back by buying banned books. Since banning books public schools
and libraries carry hurts authors and limits options for book lovers,
purchasing their books, sharing, and gifting them can help compensate for at
least some of their loss of sales. And while supporting authors is an admirable
endeavor, there are limits to how much buying banned books can fight social
ills like racism or fascism, for that matter. While buying banned books feels
good, it doesn't do anything to challenge the laws and policies that restricted
access to the books in the first place, thus accepting a
fait accompli. If we
leave book bans in place, failing to challenge those in power, reading a banned
book becomes a limited triumph amidst the backdrop of an overwhelming sea of
censorship.'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
