Addressing Book Banning in Schools and Libraries
By: Rob Simon
Teaching is political. The choices we make, and the books we teach, provide windows and mirrors for our students, opportunities for them to see themselves, develop empathy, and imagine a better world. As social justice educator Linda Christensen (1999) notes, literature is “what Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman (1983, p. 7) calls a ‘social blueprint’ about what it means to be men, women, poor, people of color, gay, or straight. And that vision is political—whether it portrays the status quo or argues for a reorganization of society” (p. 54).
Teaching is also often politicized. Parents, politicians, and community members have an interest in what texts are taught in schools, but as I have written, “no one, ourselves included, should dictate what all students can or can’t read based on narrow political or religious principles” (Beach, Appleman, Fecho, & Simon, 2021, p. 83).
"No one, ourselves included, should dictate what all students can or can’t read based on narrow political or religious principles”
Censorship is not new. Last year in the United States, however, attempts to challenge and remove books from schools or libraries by school officials, parents, and politicians reached unprecedented levels. The American Library Association reported 330 book challenges last fall alone (https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks). This is a part of broader efforts to censor teachers from discussing race, gender, and sexuality in classrooms, such as the so-called “don’t say gay” bill supported by the governor of Florida. Books that address racism are routinely challenged, such as the novel The Bluest Eye by Nobel-prize winner Toni Morrison, which was removed from school libraries in Missouri and Florida, as well as lesser known books with Black, Jewish, and LGBTQ+ characters or themes.
Among them are books that have anchored our own explorations of social injustices with teachers and students, including Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer-prize winning Holocaust memoir Maus. In January 2022 in Tennessee, a McMinn County School Board meeting held several days before Holocaust Remembrance Day resulted in banning Maus from the eighth-grade curriculum because of its use of several “vulgar” words and “one picture.” As I wrote in a letter to McMinn County Superintendent Parkison, “There is no sound pedagogical or curricular rationale for this decision [to ban Maus]. On the other hand, as any eighth-grade student knows, much harm comes from censorship.”
My research partner, Sarah Evis, and I have used Maus as a starting point for her students’ inquiries with teacher candidates into contemporary antisemitism (2015; 2018). Their responses are always thoughtful and inspiring.
This year, Sarah again taught Maus. Several of her grade 8 students shared their thoughts about the effort to ban the book:
“Maus shouldn’t be banned because it is a deep dive into what it was like to be Jewish during the Holocaust. I think not enough people know about what happened…. Also, the reason for the ban was something small which I didn’t notice when I read.”
“Maus shouldn’t be banned because it shows how it was to be a Jewish person during the war…. People should learn about it so it doesn’t happen again.”
“Maus should not be banned because it tells a survivor’s story. In banning it, you are preventing more people from learning about what happened. There are already less and less people who actually experienced the Holocaust. If we prevent their stories from being told, we might someday forget all about it. It must be so hard for the people who lived through it to see other people denying that the things you went through ever happened.”
“Maus shouldn’t be banned because it is important for children to know about the Holocaust and know that it happened. The “reasons” that you banned this book are ridiculous and a cover up for the real reason. It is vital that kids know about this book… and you are taking away the chance for them to learn about the Holocaust.”
“Maus really should stay on shelves as it’s one of the most effective books that portrays the Holocaust in a realistic and mature way. The impact that this book will leave on someone portrays a perspective from a witness, brought to life through these art panels. It’s important to know and see something as tragic as this from the view of a survivor.”
“Maus shouldn’t be banned because it was the most immersive experience I think I ever had learning about the Holocaust. It really makes you feel like you’re with the people in the book.”
“Maus is a book from the perspective of a Holocaust survivor…. Banning the book is disrespectful towards Holocaust survivors and the Jewish community. We read these types of books so our generation won’t make the same mistake again. This book doesn’t sugarcoat what happened to survivors, because we need to fully understand what happened. Banning the book is giving a message to your students that this topic is not important.”
“Maus shouldn’t be banned because it’s a survivor’s tale. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that survivors are hard to come by. There are only around 1500 alive now and they probably don’t have much time left. Art Spiegelman dedicated somewhere between eight and ten years of his life on each book and I believe that should amount to something. Millions of people were murdered in Auschwitz. This book is their voice, and you can’t just replace that. We can’t let history repeat itself.”
As their comments demonstrate, Sarah’s students are “enlightened witnesses... [who are] critically vigilant” (hooks, 1997) to the atrocities of the Holocaust, as well as the very real contemporary injustices of book banning and antisemitism.
Choices about what texts teachers teach or students read should never be made by censors. Novels like Maus, Beautiful Music for Ugly Children, or The Hate U Give, can be transformative for students, inspiring them to imagine and work toward more equitable futures. As Angel Daniel Matos (2019) notes, all students deserve the right to live and read freely. Books like these act as “beacon, respite, and sanctuary” in our efforts to sustain “more humane and equitable lives together” (Matos, 2019, pp. 86-87), within and beyond the classroom.
What can teachers do?
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has many resources available online for teachers concerned with intellectual freedom in the classroom and censorship of books or other instructional materials:
Facing History Canada has published a helpful resource to help teachers thoughtfully consider what texts to teach:
Links to Recent News Articles about Book Banning: