In The United States, most challenged or banned books are targeted because they contain themes related to race, gender, and sexuality. This is especially true for the past year (2021-2022). In April 2022, the non-profit agency, PEN America reported 1.586 book bans targeted 1,145 unique books and occurred within the past nine months.

Increasingly, concerned parents and small community groups who previously objected to a book at the local level are receiving support from conservative advocacy groups working to nationalize the efforts of these small groups focusing on books containing certain subject matter. These conservative advocacy groups are becoming more active in instigating legal and legislative actions to achieve their goals instead of encouraging discussions at the local level.

Librarians, educators, and journalists have linked this action to efforts to control what is being discussed and taught in schools by controlling the information in the books – including history, English, and science textbooks found in classrooms and school libraries.

The American Library Association (ALA) estimates 82-97% of book challenges are not reported. This makes the number of challenges in the past nine months unprecedented. Only 1% of the reported challenges are initiated by students - most come from parents or library patrons.

According to the ALA’s annual report 729 attempts to remove school, university, and library materials in 2021 resulted in 1,597 book challenges or removals. This is the highest level reported since the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) began publishing yearly statistics on challenged or banned books over twenty years ago.

In addition to the efforts by  conservative groups, there is another force seeking to control the narrative in school textbooks and libraries. Feminist groups and minorities have become vocal about how genders, minorities, ethnic groups, older people, and people with physical or intellectual disabilities are portrayed in books.

There is considerable concern about the efforts of both groups.

Conservatives seem anxious to return to the portrayals of “perfect families during the 1950s” who were overwhelmingly white and middle class. Women were full-time caregivers at home and men were the “breadwinners.” They reject books with LBGTQ+ characters, single parents, poverty, racial conflicts, and sexual situations. Gender roles are clearly defined.

The other group wants to be inclusive to the point of creating a utopian society where everyone is equal, and all are accepted. This group wants to control what writers can write about in an entirely different way. They do not want writers who are not Black, Latinx, Asian, LBGTQ+, or gender fluid to create characters or tell stories about the experiences of these peoples. It’s a “Stay in your lane” mentality that also threatens to rob authors of their creative freedoms.

As an author I respect the need for characters to be authentic and for all groups to feel represented with dignity and sensitivity.

I wish I had the correct answer for you. If both sides are correct very few books will be written and many books will disappear.

My suggestion is that we read a wide variety of authors and genres. We must teach our children critical thinking skills and continue to develop our own skills. Reading authors and biographies about authors such as Oscar Wilde, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Jesmyn Ward, Amy Tan, Isabelle Allende, Salman Rushdie, Tommy Orange, Sherman Alexie, and N. Scott Momaday have opened my eyes to issues unique to certain groups of people and universal truths we all share.

Keep an open mind and an open heart and all will be well.

https://www.aft.org/periodical/american-educator/summer-2003/thin-gruel

https://www.bustle.com/articles/183209-15-quotes-about-censorship-and-the-danger-of-banning-books