Free speech is not free if the only voices allowed are the ones you agree with.
I was thinking about this last week, as I was at a library conference. (For those of you who missed it, I am not just purveyor of the finest newsprint this side of Prince George, I also sit on a number of boards around town, including the Tumbler Ridge Youth Services Society and the Tumbler Ridge Public Library.
You might think library conferences might be just a collection of little old ladies shushing each other if they’re too loud, but honestly? That stereotype wore out years ago.
These days, libraries are bastions of free speech, inclusivity and social justice, and sessions covered such bookish topics as “Community Conversations: creating a safe space for discussions about the Toxic Drug Crisis”, “Reciprocity, “Reconciliation”, “Truth-telling, and Indigenous Voices”and “DiversAbility: How do we create programming that is inclusive for all patrons?”
And those were just the first three sessions listed. It goes on from there.
Meanwhile, calls to remove books from school reading lists and library shelves have been on the rise in the US, most notably in states like Florida and Texas.
Sadly, they’re also on an upswing here in Canada. Even here in Tumbler Ridge there’s been controversy over some of the books found in the public libary.
Recently, most of the issues people have, both across the country and here in Tumbler, are with books that deal with sexuality and gender identify.
Historically, books were challenged due to language, sexual content, religious content and more.
Two years ago, the graphic novel Maus (graphic meaning that it is drawn, not that it is explicit) was banned in Tennessee, because the book “contains material that board members said was inappropriate for students.”
The book is a retelling of the story of Jews in World War II Germany. And yes, it contains some curse words, and some (cartoon) depictions of naked prisoners of war (remember; also mice) being assigned their prison uniforms.
“There is some rough, objectionable language in this book,” said Lee Parkison, the director of schools for McMinn County, in eastern Tennessee, according to minutes of the meeting.
According to the New York Times, Art Spiegelman, the author of Maus, said after the decision. “This is disturbing imagery,” he said in an interview on Thursday, which is Holocaust Remembrance Day. “But you know what? It’s disturbing history.”
After reading the minutes of the meeting, (the Times goes on to say) Spiegelman said he got the impression that the board members were asking, “Why can’t they teach a nicer Holocaust?”
Other books that have either been challenged or outright banned in Canada? The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Bridge to Teribithia by Katherine Paterson, and the Harry Potter series, which is a story about someone who must die to defeat evil, and then be reborn. That plot feels kinda familiar, I wonder where I’ve heard it? Oh, right. The Bible.
Indeed, both of the last two authors identify as Christian (Atwood, on the other hand, most certainly does not.)
Speaking of which, some places, even in the United States of America, have banned the Bible, too. As recently as last year, the Davis School District in Utah decided the Bible—you know, the foundational text for Christianity itself—not because of it’s religious content, but due to “vulgarity and violence.”
Books have been banned or challenged for sexual content, spiritual content, moral content. They get banned for violence, racism, and use of illegal substances. They even get challenged due to their political viewpoint.
Libraries, to quote Mary Jo Godwin, have something to offend everyone.
But that quote misses the point. Libraries also have something to affirm everyone, too. There are books on faith for the Christian and for the Muslim. There are books supporting heteronormative sexual practices, but also books that talk about other sexual practices, and some that have nothing to do with sex.
There are books for trans kids, and for straight kids. There are books about science and math and culture and true crime and killer clowns who live in sewers.
Some of the books you’ll love. Some you’ll find offensive. Or silly. Or trite. Or dangerous.
But your list? Will be different than mine. Will be different than your neighbours. Some people would gladly ban the Bible. Others? Want to get rid of the Koran. Still others would love to see A Clockwork Orange go away. Or Huckleberry Fin. Or Canadian Poetry, Volume 1. But who amongst us has the right to tell the rest of us the right things to read? The right way to think? The right way to act? The right way to be? Free speech is only free if we allow the people we disagree with equal time.
Here’s the deal. You don’t have to listen to those voices. You don’t have to read those books.
But—I hear you cry in an anguished voice—but what about the kids?
What about them? They have the right to read as well. Yes, you say, but not *that* book. Well, then, that’s a conversation you need to have with your kid.
But I don’t have children, you say. Then it’s not your responsibility.
And if you do have children? I am reminded of a cartoon I saw. An angry parent confronts a librarian. “Who let my child read this?” she demands.
“You did,” replies the implacable librarian.
“But I wasn’t even here!” the parent protests.
“Exactly,” replies the librarian. “I’m glad you understand.”
“So if I had been here, he wouldn’t have read this?” pushes the parent.
“That would have been between you and your kid.”
“Would you let your kid read this?”
“That’s between me and them.”
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
