Think, for a moment, about your favorite book. Maybe it’s one that your mother read to you as you dozed off in her arms as a child. Maybe it’s a novel that sparked a class discussion and fundamentally changed your view of your peers and the world around you. Or perhaps you have yet to discover it.
Best described from the passionate heart of James Baldwin, books have shown me that “the things that tormented me the most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive or who had ever been alive.” Most people, at some point in their lives, have been profoundly affected by an artwork — whether the medium be literature, photography, painting or some other form of expression. Imagine, for a moment, having never gotten the opportunity to immerse yourself in this work. Unfortunately, as a radical conservative movement pushes for the removal of a host of books from school library shelves, many school children may miss out on the opportunity to be fundamentally touched by humanity’s most beautiful and impactful forms of artistry.
During the 2023-24 school year, 10,000 books were banned from school library shelves — an increase that is nearly triple that of the previous year. While the prevalence of this censorship is frightening, book bans themselves are not a new phenomenon. One of the earliest examples of this can be traced back to 259–210 B.C., when the Chinese emperor Shih Huang Ti, in an effort to control historical narratives, went on a book-burning spree and reportedly buried alive 460 Confucian scholars. By doing so, he intended to eradicate dissenting voices and ensure the history books began with the story of his reign.
In Nazi Germany, books written by Jews, left-wing thinkers, communists and other dissenting, “un-German” voices were burned or pulled from public collections. This tragic practice was a result of a Nazi order which stated that the intent was “to keep German cultural life pure from all harmful and undesirable literature [and this] will particularly protect the youth from corrupting influences.”
Today, we find ourselves at the forefront of another literature censorship spree, which is spearheaded by GOP lawmakers who intend to eradicate works of literature that expose school children to “sensitive materials.” “The Kite Runner” by Khalid Hosseini is one of the more prominent examples of a book under threat. The novel tells a compelling story about Amir, an Afghani boy, and his friends and family. Despite being heavy, this story deals with several important themes, including father-son relationships, war, religion and male friendship.
In North Carolina, Indiana, California and Wisconsin, “The Kite Runner” was under fire for what a North Carolina parent describes as containing “homosexuality and sexually explicit scenes.” She further went on to argue that the novel “inaccurately assign[s] Judeo-Christian characteristics to a Muslim god.” Complaints like these, even if the ban does not pass, negatively affect students’ education, as the novel is typically removed from the curriculum until an official ruling is made. Further, teachers become more hesitant when selecting literature for their lesson plans — especially in states like Arizona, where Republican lawmakers attempted to enact legislation that allows for teachers to be fined and imprisoned for even a recommendation of a book that is deemed “sexually explicit.”
The books often targeted by right-wing activists and politicians are disproportionately works of literature that focus on the themes of sexuality, gender and race. The verbiage surrounding the content of these books typically refers to their material as being “obscene” — a term that has come to signify things such as the mere presence of a same-sex couple, discussions over gender expression and demographic minority stories that convey feelings of “white guilt” to students reading them.
The tendency to ban books is, on the surface, disguised as a method of protection for America’s youth. It is believed by many school board members, lawmakers and parents of school-aged children that the more we shelter our kids from difficult topics, the more optimistic these kids will be about their peers, our nation and the world. This, though, is a philosophy deeply rooted in privilege and oppression. In an era marked by deep political, social and cultural divisions, it is more important than ever that we seek to actively amplify, rather than silence, the voices and stories of those who are too often unheard. Shielding kids from these ideas and experiences does not serve to protect them — rather, it prevents them from learning about how to appropriately and effectively navigate the complex experiences that will undoubtedly infiltrate their adult lives.
The push to remove historic works of literature from school shelves is not only harmful to the educational and social development of students but also to the health of our nation’s democracy. Historically speaking, one of the earliest signs of a weakening democracy is the extreme polarization of a country’s people. In other words, the erosion of democratic principles begins when we lose our capacity for empathy. Without the willingness to understand and value diverse perspectives, the foundation of democracy begins to crumble.
To prevent a student from reading about people different than them is to create a bubble of privilege around that child. It shuts them off from the opportunity to foster meaningful relationships with people of diverse backgrounds and experiences — an issue that is all too relevant in our country today. By denying students the opportunity to engage in an exploration of different perspectives, we minimize their ability to understand, empathize and coexist with others.
If you have yet to experience a profound shift in thinking or worldview upon closing the final page of a work of literature, you are missing out on one of humanity’s most transformative experiences. To think, to learn and to love literature is to be one with the writer, the characters and all the people who have ever flipped through the pages of the same story. I encourage you — pick up a book. Allow your worldviews to be deconstructed, reformed and diversified. Give yourself permission to fall in love with a story and its characters. Allow this love and understanding to seep into your real life, too.
Humans are messy. Relationships are fragile. Love takes many forms. History is complex. Literature is crucial to understanding all of this. Take it away, and the future of our nation is at great risk of losing the foundations of diversity, autonomy and intellectual prosperity that we so often pride ourselves on.
Akira Kopec is a junior majoring in integrative neuroscience.
Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the view of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the staff editorial.