Some would argue the greatest American freedom is the privilege to express your thoughts, even if that opinion is unorthodox or unpopular. That creativity of the mind is widely declared in books. Think of best-selling works such as the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, The Color Purple by Alice Walker and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
Keep in mind, freedom of expression works both ways.
Did you know the Harry Potter series, which became the best-selling book series in history, Alice Walkerās novel, which became so successful itās now a Broadway play, and Harper Leeās Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece were all challenged or banned books?
According to the American Library Associationās (ALA) definitions, a challenge is the attempt to remove or restrict materials based on the objections of a person or group, and banning is the removal of those materials from curriculum or library shelves.
ā(Challenging or banning books) is a threat to freedom of speech and choice,ā the ALA said in a statement.
In response to such challenges and bans, the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library in downtown Indianapolis is standing up to literary bullies by championing āBanned Books Weekā Sept. 27 through Oct. 3.
āWe got involved because we experienced firsthand book banning,ā Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library CEO Julia Whitehead said. āThe more we got involved, the more we realized lots of classic works of American literature were banned. Weāre supporting freedoms our founding fathers wanted to afford to us.ā
In 2011, one of Vonnegutās books, Slaughterhouse-Five, was banned in a school in rural Missouri. Whitehead said the bookās challenger didnāt even have a child at the high school; he simply took it upon himself to recommend to the school board they ban Slaughterhouse-Five. According to a Huffington Post article, of the four members of the school board who voted on the bookās fate, only one had actually read the text. Because of their unawareness of Vonnegutās message, Whitehead said they were unable to speak to the bookās relevance.
Slaughterhouse-Five is based on Vonnegutās experience in World War II as a prisoner of war. The writer turned his experience into fiction, integrated science fiction and created the story of Billy Pilgrim, a war veteran who experiences time travel through post-traumatic stress disorder.
āItās about the absurdity of war,ā said Whitehead.
The book was said to be banned because of profanity and content like naked men and women in cages together so others can watch them having sex, and God telling people they better not mess with his loser, bum of a son, named Jesus Christ.
Deloice Holliday, head of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center library at Indiana University and a librarian for African-American and African Diaspora Studies at the university, said people contest books for a variety of reasons, but generally books are censored because of themes such as violence, language, racial slurs, sexual content, profanity or the book being inappropriate for its intended reader.
āSometimes a book is challenged or banned because someone thought it had no literary value,ā said Holliday.
She added that in todayās time when many negatives are readily accessed via TV, video games or the Internet, she is saddened that literature continues to be censured.
āItās OK to access whatever you can find, but itās not OK to read Uncle Tomās Children. Thereās a double standard,ā said Holliday.
Holliday doesnāt argue that some books are inappropriate for some age groups, but she maintains that those who assign books are aware of the audience and oftentimes assign books based on the bookās true meaning.
āI donāt feel any book should be censored. But those who challenge books are exercising their right of free expression too, so itās hard,ā said Holliday. āBut if a book is challenged, censored or pulled off the shelves, there are ways around it.ā
Whitehead agreed and said oftentimes when a book is banned, people rush out to find it and read it.
Though book relevancy continues to be argued, Amrita Chakrabarti Myers, associate professor of history and gender studies at Indiana University, reminds the public that during the antebellum period, Blacks or slaves werenāt allowed to read, let alone access a banned book.
āIt was feared that if you educate a slave, they would want more for themselves,ā Myers said. āThey knew the Bible, but whites only gave certain sermons and scriptures that kept Black people limited in their understanding of the Christian tradition.ā
Many slaves broke the laws and learned how to read and write. Because of this, Holliday encourages Blacks to frequent libraries and book stores, find something new, and develop a love of reading.
For more information on the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Libraryās Banned Books Week, call (317) 652-1954 or visit Vonnegutlibrary.org. To access the American Library Associationās list of banned books, visit ALA.org.