A Banned Books Week display is at the Mott Haven branch of the New York Public Library in the Bronx borough of New York City on Saturday, October 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

What is your favorite book? Maybe it’s one of those timeless classics like “The Great Gatsby” (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald, or perhaps it’s something more recent such as “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” (2007) by Sherman Alexie. Either way, whatever your favorite book may be . . . what if it were completely pulled from the shelves of libraries?

According to PEN America, a free speech organization founded in 1922, “From July 2021 to June 2022, PEN America found 2,532 instances of individual books being banned, affecting 1,648 unique book titles. The bans occurred in 32 states, with Texas and Florida leading the nation, according to PEN America’s landmark 2022 Banned in the USA report.”

What this means is that more than 2,000 books have been banned across the United States in less than a year. This doesn’t even begin to include the books banned prior to this. But, why exactly are books being banned?

According to the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee University, the reasoning behind book bans is “Those advocating a ban complain typically that the book in question contains graphic violence, expresses disrespect for parents and family, is sexually explicit, exalts evil, lacks literary merit, is unsuitable for a particular age group, or includes offensive language.”

This explanation itself, while completely accurate to why books are banned, is a joke. “Exalts evil” — who even says that anymore? Consider this a call to recognize the absolute ridiculousness against book banning, and to take a stand against the ‘outlawing’ of literature.

View the list of the top most challenged books of 2022 according to the American Library Association (ALA). Almost all these books are banned for being “sexually explicit” or inclusive in racial, as well as gender identity. Even in our very own Fredonia area do we experience the books being challenged.

The Official Fredonia Chapter of Turning Point USA, made the following statement on their Aug. 16 Instagram post: “We are a nonprofit organization who seeks to educate college students on free speech, free markets, and promote American freedom”.

“Free Speech” is the term I’d like to explicitly point out in regards to that post on Aug. 16. Because on Sept. 13, it almost seemed completely contradicted.

On Sept. 13, The Official Fredonia Chapter of Turning Point USA made an Instagram post, saying “Insane how this is in our school library. Keep kids out of this!” attached to it was an image of Jennifer Miller’s ‘The Transformative Potential of LGBTQ+ Children’s Picture Books’ at SUNY Fredonia’s very own Reed Library.

But what was wrong with this book? Why do kids need to be kept away from a piece of literature, a form of free speech? It discussed the presence of LGBTQ+ inclusivity and representation in children’s books. Is it because the very mention of romantic/sexual orientation, or gender identity is perceived as sexually explicit? Because if that’s the case . . . then we need a definition for what “sexually explicit” means.

The term “Sexually explicit” is fairly foggy in definition but using the more widely accepted definition of ‘a pictorial depiction or graphic description of acts that are sexual in nature’ one simply must realize that these books aren’t inherently “sexually explicit”.

Materials considered “sexually explicit” are the very basis of how we legally define “obscenity” within the United States. Obscenity is sexually explicit material, and vice versa. This holds important for the following reason:

According to the U.S. Department of Justice “Federal law strictly prohibits the distribution of obscene matter to minors.”

What this means is that material which is sexually explicit cannot be marketed towards minors as it is illegal. So all those arguments on how keeping kids away from books because of explicit content seems redundant.

Consider some of the books on the ALA list, such as “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe or “All Boys Aren’t Blue” (2020) by George M. Johnson.

These books are directed toward an audience of young adults, not children. Alongside this, please note that for both of these books, they are memoirs of what it was like to grow up as members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Suddenly, everything makes sense. It’s no secret that the LGBTQIA+ community is still a taboo. If anything about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Parental Rights in Education Bill, also known as the Don’t Say Gay Bill and the countless other Anti-LGBTQIA+ Bills passed across our country has anything to say about it.

Returning to the ALA list, notice that LGBTQIA+ content, EDI content (EDI, meaning equity, diversity and inclusion), as well as depictions of drug use, violence, or profanity are some of the other excuses used for banning/challenging books.

What all of these topics have in common, however, is their tendencies to make people uncomfortable when discussed. But nonetheless they’re important to talk about for so many reasons.

The topics of drug use, and violence addresses destructive behavior and preventing the harm of ourselves or others. Characters that aren’t straight, or aren’t white bring about the inclusion and acknowledgement that not everyone follows the heteronormative lens or euro-centric beauty standards because we are all different people.

So, if anything, it’s a learning opportunity.

For example, I grew up watching Avatar the Last Airbender, which seems like a pretty goofy show at first. As an adult, I realize the show discussed sensitive topics such as xenophobia, genocide, imperialism, elitism, and it didn’t scar me. I was five and never once was I scared by the show, or traumatized in any way, by learning about these concepts, if anything I think learning about this stuff at an early age helped me develop my own morals and opinions towards these topics.

According to MentalHelp.net, a website designed to bring about education in mental health and wellness, “Between the ages of 2 and 5, many children start to show morally-based behaviors and beliefs”. This was the age I was at watching that show, I was developing morals and values, and by learning such difficult topics in such a manner in which the writers handled it, I think I better understand the value of life and what it means to respect others and their cultures. But what does this have to do with banned books?

In our present post-truth era, it seems like more and more books are being banned as they discuss topics people simply disagree with or refuse to listen to out of discomfort of the taboo.

Ray Bradbury summarizes this perfectly in Fahrenheit 451 (1953), “Colored people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it. Someone’s written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book”.

If you replace the word “burn” with “ban” in that sentence, it seems painstakingly familiar now, doesn’t it? Somebody gets offended, or feels uncomfortable with the topic discussed, so they challenge to remove the book.

We need to stop banning books, because it isn’t helping or protecting anybody. No matter the story, or the information we are given, a lesson can be learned from it. It’s just a matter of who is and isn’t brave enough to open to the first page.

Karissa Doyle is a student in SUNY Fredonia’s Class of 2025. She is an English Major and a History Minor.