Words by Natasha Hemraze
With poet Amanda Gorman the latest writer to fall victim to book bans, the USA is rapidly drifting into dangerous territory.
The United States of America used to be at the heart of literature, from Fitzgerald to Hemingway, all the way to Baldwin, Morrison, and Hughes. But as of late, America has seen an assault on literature via First-Amendment-violating book bans and censorship attacks.
It has been recorded that between 2021-22, 1,600 books regarding race, history, sexual orientation and gender have been banned in American school libraries, and this continues to be a rising concern.
PEN America, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the protection of free expression, investigated these bans, concluding that the states suffering the most were Texas, Florida, Missouri, Utah and South Carolina. The bans in these states were found to be targeting books centered around and written by people of colour and the LGBTQ+ community.
The individuals imposing these restrictions have been doing so without a care for the negative impact it is having. Children’s education is being hampered, and their understanding of the wider world in jeopardy, marginalised authors’ struggle to find an audience has only been made harder, and publishers are having to second guess their editorial decision.
Those impacted are speaking up: Penguin Random House, one of the largest book publishers in the world, filed a lawsuit against the Escambia County School District and School Board in Florida for violating the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech. They alongside PEN America and several authors and professors have argued that this policy is “depriving students of access to a wide range of viewpoints” and restricting the chance for authors to interact with their audiences.
This controversial surge in book bans was motivated by Floridian Governor Ron De Santis, who also happens to be planning his 2024 presidential bid. His anti-LGBTQ and anti-Black motivations have inspired his similarly deplorable “Don’t Say Gay” bill and the “Stop-Woke” Act. As if that weren’t enough, he’s also blocked critical race theory teachings in Floridian schools and universities, demanding teachers stay away from so-called “divisive concepts” regarding race and gender.
Recently, Amanda Gorman, a talented and inspirational poet who delivered a stunning performance at President Biden’s inauguration ceremony 2 years ago, spoke out against the censorship attacks. A woman in Florida filed a complaint against Gorman’s poem ‘The Hill We Climb’, stating that it includes “indirect hate messages” and “indoctrination”. Gorman stated that she was “gutted” about the complaint and expressed how “we must fight back” in a lengthy tweet.
The United States of America has always been emphatic about being the ‘land of the free’, yet, it has been creeping into dystopian territory for a while, bringing to life a fearful, speculative world that should only belong in books. At times praised for its diversity, America’s bones are built on the suffering and marginalisation of others, a dark period that bore an incredible ongoing literary movement. Unfortunately, the future generation’s right to read the works of some of literature’s most incredible geniuses is under threat, and the cost may be immeasurable.