By Jennifer Magelky[1]

 

 

    The banning of books has its origins as far back as 450 B.C., when Anaxagoras wrote that he thought the sun was a “white hot stone and that the moon reflected the sun's rays.”[2]  His writings were deemed “derogatory” to the gods, forcing his departure from Athens and the burning of all of his writings.[3]  Since that time, decisions about book bannings often have turned on the definition of what is derogatory.  As society has grown and changed, so have its tastes, and the fine line between what one person considers art and what another considers rubbish has shifted several times.  This issue becomes more complex when the material is available to minors or included in the education of children.  Debate over which books should be used in the classroom or made available in a school library can become very heated.  Those who object to content of a particular book feel that they, not the school, should decide what materials are available to their children. On the other side,  those who feel a book has value and merit feel that a small group of people should not have the power to limit the rest of society’s access to materials. 

One of the most notable periods of book censorship in U.S. history began in 1873 when Anthony Comstock founded his New York Society for the Suppression of Vice.[4]  The main objective of the society was to prevent “obscene” materials from polluting the minds of the American people, especially the youth. In the beginning, the group targeted mostly erotica and crime stories.  Comstock viewed dime novels as the equivalent of children's pornography and claimed the devil used such novels to entice children to a life of crime and lust.[5]  Comstock advocated boycotts of businesses that sold dime novels, and he lobbied state and local governments to pass laws to limit or prohibit the sale of such materials.  His efforts led to bans or suppression of dime novels in Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington.⁴ 

In the years following the campaign of Anthony Comstock, implementing outright bans on books and materials has proved to be more difficult. Communities as well the courts have tried to balance personal preferences with intellectual freedom.    

More than a century after the Comstock era, the Supreme Court ruled in Board of Education, Island Trees v. Pico that public school boards could not remove a book from the library “simply because they dislike[d] the ideas contained in those books.”[6]   In its 1982 decision, the Court said a balance must be struck between the school’s role as an educator and the students’ rights of access to materials.  Justice Harry A. Blackmun elaborated, saying that books should be removed only when a book more relevant to the curriculum was available or when other “politically neutral” reasons were present.[7]   The Court’s decision, however, did not halt public challenges to school books and materials.   

In the decade 1990 and 2000, individuals raised 6,364 challenges to books, according to data from the Office for Intellectual Freedom.[8]  The greatest number of complaints arose from “sexually explicit” material (1,607).  The second largest category consisted of “offensive language” (1,427).   Other objections were prompted by: material that was not age appropriate, books having an occult theme, materials containing violence, books promoting homosexuality, items promoting a religious viewpoint, or books containing nudity. 

The Pacific Northwest has its own history of challenged materials.  Books considered classics in literary circles have been eliminated in several schools across Washington, Idaho and Oregon and continue to be called into question today. Here is a sample of some of the cases.

In the fall of 2003, the Renton School District pulled The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain from its approved reading list after members of the community complained that the use of the term “nigger“ in the book was damaging to students’ self-esteem.[9]

The Coeur d'Alene School District voted to institute a notification policy, instead of an outright ban, of The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier to inform parents that their child had checked out a book with controversial subject matter. The book has been challenged and banned across the nation for its sexual content.[10]

In 2000, Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson started a community debate over its inclusion on the high school reading list in South Kitsap County School District.  The book, which has won numerous awards, tackles the issues surrounding the Japanese exile camps during World War II. It has been challenged by critics for sexual content, language and promotion of intolerance.[11]  The school board voted 3-2 to remove the book from the reading list. 

 Books dealing with homosexuality have become an issue of concern for families and librarians alike.  In 1992, statewide initiative Measure 9 would have amended the Oregon state constitution to prohibit the public schools from encouraging homosexuality.  In the eyes of many librarians, this would have resulted in the required purging of materials from libraries in the state written by homosexual writers or discussing the topic of homosexuality.[12]  The measure failed 53% to 47%,[13] but debate about the inclusion of similar materials in schools continues.

Many people would think the time of book burning is long past.  However, in August 2003 a group burned the Harry Potter Series in Greenville, Michigan.[14]  As long as ideas and ideals continue to conflict, there likely will be individuals willing to put a book under lock and key or to eliminate it entirely in order to protect their beliefs.   The delicate task of school boards, librarians and teachers is to strike a balance between personal values and intellectual freedoms, so that information is not thrust on those who do not wish to receive it while access is preserved for those who want it.