Late last week, some of the country’s biggest publishers sued the state of Florida in defense of the first amendment, according to the New York Times.
The lawsuit comes after Florida passed House Bill 1069 in 2023, which, according to the Florida senate, “includes requirements for age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate instruction for all students in prekindergarten through grade 12.”
Among other educational stipulations, “the bill requires the suspension of materials alleged to contain pornography or obscene depictions of sexual conduct, as identified in current law.” Under said current law, Florida Statute 847.001 defines depictions or simulations of sex as “the explicit depiction of [sexual] conduct.”
Though the House Bill targets books with sexual content, like “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley, many of the books that have been removed from Florida schools are centered on other topics.
According to an article by Penguin Random House, other titles include “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain and “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens. Additionally, “[a]mong nonfiction titles, accounts of the Holocaust such as ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ by Anne Frank have been removed.”
The New York Times adds other banned books in Florida schools, including “‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ by Maya Angelou, ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ by Zora Neale Hurston and ‘Slaughterhouse-Five’ by Kurt Vonnegut.” Books like Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer” have also been attacked.
The lawsuit against House Bill 1069 was first initiated by the country’s largest publisher, Penguin Random House, and followed by Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster and Sourcebooks.
These publishers cite the unconstitutional nature of the house bill as the reason for their lawsuit. According to the United States Congress’ website, the first amendment reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
While not an official “book ban,” the state’s House Bill 1069 “requires school librarians to remove books that contain anything that can be construed as ‘sexual conduct,’ with no consideration of the educational value of the work as a whole,” according to Penguin Random House.
Their article continues to detail the effects of this house bill: “If ‘a parent or a resident of the county’ objects to a book, the book must be removed within five days and remain unavailable until the objection is resolved.” This means a title can be denied to students if just one parent or resident wants it removed.
As someone who currently works in the publishing industry as a freelance editor, I view the art of publishing as something sacred. Publishing companies are the channel by which authors’ voices are heard, through which the first amendment is exercised.
While there have been some moments where I have felt uncomfortable because of what an author was saying or because of what a character did within the pages, there is something special about the diversity of thought in published books. It ensures that everyone has a voice.
While Florida has been the main target of this lawsuit, Colorado Springs has been experiencing its own struggle with bans and removals, specifically within Academy District 20.
On April 27, 2023, then-superintendent Thomas Gregory received “an email co-signed by about three dozen district parents who requested he remove several books from school libraries due to alleged ‘sexually explicit’ content they deemed inappropriate for young readers,” an article from the Gazette says.
During the election of the D20 school board last October, The Gazette released an editorial titled “D-20 library books groom children for sex.” This article argues that explicit books have no place in the district, but it goes further than sexually explicit books.
The editorial says, “Aside from grooming children, many of the books are blatantly racist,” citing Sherman Alexie’s novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian” where Alexie writes, “Kid, if you get my daughter pregnant, if you make some charcoal babies, I’m going to disown her.”
While the board argues that the racism depicted in these pages — and the pages of other books they label “trope-filled, explicit and racist” — should be kept out of schools, the opposite is true. Racism is ugly, but it’s a part of our history. Alexie uses his book to draw attention to the fact that harmful words like these were part of his experience and that they had repercussions in his life and the lives of others.
Failing to educate children about the past means they will have no tools to rebuild the future. They will have no ability to empathize with others who are experiencing racism, and they will not know how to make conscious decisions to overcome it.
If we ban books that depict humanity’s struggle with oppression, then we lose Anne Frank’s voice. If we ban books that display the diversity of human sexuality, then we lose Maia Kobabe’s and Aldous Huxley’s voices. If we ban books that depict America’s racism, then we lose Maya Angelou’s and Zora Neal Hurston’s voices. With each book ban, another author loses their voice. Another school goes uneducated. Another freedom is denied.
The next time you pick a book, look towards the bottom of the spine or check the copyright page inside for the publisher. There’s the name of a company that, likely, is fighting right now for your freedom to read.
Support banned books by continuing to buy them and check them out from the library. Vote for candidates who support free speech, and petition for schools to keep these books available for those who want to learn from them. It is up to us to speak out when others are silenced.
“The Diary of a Young Girl,” “Brave New World” and “Gender Queer.” Graphic by Lillian Davis.