Story at a glance
- A new report from freedom of expression nonprofit PEN America states that a total of 1,648 book titles have been banned in schools across the country.
- The new report expands on the organization’s April survey on U.S. book bans.
- Since then, 1,000 new book bans have come to light to organization members.
The momentum behind the nation’s wave of book bans is growing.
A total of 1,648 individual books have been banned as of June, according to a new report from PEN America, a nonprofit focused on defending the right to freedom of expression in literature, journalism, and education.
Those banned titles were written by 1,261 different authors, 290 illustrators and 18 translators.
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The new report expands on the findings outlined in the organization’s April report “Banned in the USA” and included data on about 1,000 more book bans.
Now, the organization has tallied 2,532 instances of individual books being banned across the country between June of this year and June of 2021.
Out of those books, 674 titles, or 41 percent of all banned books, have an LGBTQ+ protagonist or secondary character or focus on LGBTQ+ themes. Another 659 titles, or 40 percent, have a protagonist or prominent secondary character of color, and 338 banned books, or 21 percent, talk about issues of race or racism.
And just like PEN America’s April report, the updated findings show that the two most banned books in the country continue to be Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” and “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson.
Where are book bans happening?
Book bans have taken place in 138 school districts across 32 states. But there are three states that account for an overwhelming majority of the bans: Pennsylvania, Florida, and Texas.
Texas has the most bans with 801 in 22 school districts. Florida follows with 566 in 21 districts, and Pennsylvania had 457 in 11 districts, according to the report. Tennessee comes in fourth place, with Oklahoma, Michigan, Kansas, Wisconsin, Missouri and Idaho rounding out the top 10 states with the most book bans.
What makes this new wave of book bans different?
The United States has a history of book bans with many experts arguing the first book banned in the country was Thomas Morton’s “New English Canaan” which was written in 1634. But this time around it’s different.
“What we are confronting is not a spontaneous reaction from individual parents against individual books in their homes or schools,” said Jonathan Friedman, director of free expression and education programs at PEN America. “This is a movement that is growing and entails a lot of online organization and coordination.”
In the September report, PEN America presents more data on 50 parental and community groups that have pushed for book bans at the national, state or local levels. These encompass small local Facebook groups to larger ones like Moms for Liberty, a self-described parental rights organization with 200 chapters. Other larger groups include US Parents Involved in Education, No Left Turn in Education, MassResistance, Parents’ Rights in Education, Mary in the Liberty, County Citizens Defending Freedom USA and Power2Parents.
Out of those 50 groups, eight have regional or local chapters, together making up 300 groups, with some of those chapters operating mostly through social media. And 262 (73 percent) of those 300 local or regional chapters were formed within the last year.
PEN America believes that these parental and community groups have played a role in at least half of all the book bans that arose during the 2021-22 school year.
Not all of these groups have the same goal, but they are using similar language and tactics to try to get rid of certain books.
Many of the groups will share lists of books they aim to challenge across state lines via social media and swam school board meetings, ask for new rating systems for libraries and argue that a book should be removed from schools or libraries because they contain “pornography” or are “grooming” children, the report notes.
In some cases, group members have even filed criminal complaints against teachers and librarians. In August, an Oklahoma high school English teacher resigned in protest after she was punished for having books in her classroom that violate a state law that restricts instruction on race and gender. In response, a parent of the instructor’s former student said she should have criminal charges pressed against her.
Some of the groups include language about parental or religious rights in their mission statements while others plainly call for the removal of certain topics like critical race theory.
What type of book bans are happening?
The removal of books fall into four categories, according to Pen America’s report: titles that are banned from libraries, titles that are banned in classrooms, titles that are prohibited from library and classroom shelves, and those that have been removed
According to Pen America’s data, the bulk of banned books have been removed pending investigations or reviews. More than 980 titles have been taken off of shelves in 57 school districts as part of an investigation or review process, which Friedman argues highlights the tricky tactics being used to remove unwanted materials.
“A lot of book banning is amorphous; it takes place in the shadows,” said Friedman. “It entails actions by people in power in schools to restrict books without saying that they are doing so publicly.”
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