Books have always been inherently political; literature and art have always served a greater purpose outside of just entertainment. Books are a reflection of the time we live in, showcasing the diverse experiences of those around us. So the banning of books and media works to limit the voices of so many minorities and people groups based on the assumption that the viewpoint of that individual is invalid or bad. The limiting of a child’s education to serve a personal agenda or motive is cruel. Our educators are charged with providing an education as diverse and rich as the culture we live in. In America, we are lucky enough to have a melting pot of different cultures, sexualities, and gender expressions. It is negligent and unfair to only teach our children about the white, heteronormative aspect of our society just because that is primarily who leads it.
The main target of these bans are books written by black and queer authors. The books cover a range of stories and experiences like personal expression and overcoming diversity. Though the current Trump administration calls book banning a “hoax,” educators are not convinced. In 2020, Donald Trump signed an executive order to “Combat offensive and anti-American race and sex stereotyping and scapegoating”. Originally applied to the workplace, but also relevant to the book banning and soft censorship as we can see the mindset that our leaders are in. This pushes a narrative that shoves victims of racial and sexual prejudice into a place where their voices cannot be heard, and the next generation could cease to hear about them. Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program, says that calling this a hoax is dismissive of all those directly affected by the bans themselves. Banning books denies teachers the opportunity to provide the best education to the upcoming generation, limiting the scope of teaching to a small box that is no longer representative of all.
On May 26, 2023, Senate File 496 (SF 496) was passed in Iowa. This bill puts very tight restrictions around the content allowed in books for this state. Mostly in regards to sexual identity and expression. Teachers James Joshua Coleman and Petra Lange claim that they know this bill to be epistemic genocid: The systematic removal of intersectionality, diverse, queer, and trans youth and their stories from their collective knowledge. Removing queer and trans literature is banning childhoods and stories from being told, taking away our access to hearing from such valued and unique individuals. SF 496 includes some of the following rules:
1. Removing required health education about HPV and HIV from K–12 education
2. Voiding the requirement of a master’s degree for librarianship
3. Restricting library collections to “only age-appropriate materials”
4. Placing an interdiction on instruction about “sexual orientation and gender identity” in K–6
5. Removing literature that includes “descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act” from public school classrooms and libraries
6. Forcing educators to report (and possibly out) students who use names or pronouns differing from their “official birth certificates” to their parents
7. Forbidding students to serve on reconsideration committees for challenged or banned books
This bill, which is still in place but is subject to ongoing legal proceedings, causes harm to not only every child’s education but also children who are in marginalized groups in more direct ways. Health education is a vital part of schools. Learning about HPV, HIV, AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases aims to protect our youth from contracting these diseases that are detrimental to their health. Restricting to “age-appropriate” material is a subjective way to describe any topic an educational system would like to avoid. Forcing children to alert their parents of any name or identity changes can and will inevitably be very harmful to the child. Ignoring the possibility of an abusive or unaccepting home life is a scary risk that educators are now forced to take. Learning about trans people will not harm your child, but their lack of knowledge about the world could very well hurt them.
It is a joy and a privilege to hear stories and embrace them. Books allow us to change our minds, take new stances, and demand new changes. Taking books out of schools will limit the minds of the next generation of children. Silencing these voices will not erase the people behind them, but we will fail them by not allowing their beautiful voices to be heard.