The new Republican administration has announced that they will end US education department investigations into book bans in the country. Directly referred to as ‘Biden’s Book Ban Hoax’ in a press release, they will no longer employ a ‘book ban coordinator.’ Appointed by the Biden administration, this role was that of a watchdog over book banning in schools and advising against this where it violated students’ civil rights.
As a part of an Office for Civil Rights investigation, attorneys ‘quickly confirmed that books are not being ‘banned’ but that school districts, parents and community stakeholders have established common sense processes by which to evaluate and remove age-inappropriate materials.’ The press release quotes Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Craig Trainor, who declares this local control a ‘deeply rooted American principle.’
The discourse of the ‘hoax’ book ban investigation has faced fierce backlash from groups such as the American Library Association (ALA). In response, they dubbed this part of a ‘cruel and headlong effort to terminate protections from discrimination for LGBTQIA+ students and students of color’. ‘Book bans are real’, they go on to say, and ‘the new administration is not above the US constitution’.
In 1969, the Supreme Court in Tinker v. Des Moines, deemed that ‘neither teachers nor students shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate’. This was preceded by a ruling in 1989 that ‘local school boards may not remove books from school libraries simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books.’
Book bans in the United States are by no means a new phenomenon, dating back to the Colonial Era. From books such as Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower to Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, the titles on these lists feature diverse themes from LGBTQIA+ rights to racism, sexual content, sexual assault, death and grief. In 2022, in response to book bans, Margaret Atwood notably announced a new ‘unburnable’ edition of her 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale.
Book bans in the United States are by no means a new phenomenon, dating back to the Colonial Era.
However, from 3,362 book bans in the 2022-2023 school year to 10,000 in the most recent 2023-2024 period, data indicates a large surge in modern-day America. Cult favourites such as Call Me By Your Name, It Ends with Us and The Kite Runner were among the top banned titles in the 2023-2024 period.
‘Book bans do not protect children; history teaches us that they are a terrifying step toward tyranny’, the ALA has said. Whilst we may associate book bans with extreme authoritarian leadership throughout history, they are becoming only more prevalent today in one of the world’s most famous and historic democracies.
‘Book bans do not protect children; history teaches us that they are a terrifying step toward tyranny’
American Library Association
