According to a new report from PEN, “Since PEN America started tracking public school book bans in July 2021, we have recorded nearly 6,000 instances of banned books. Our new report released today documents a 33% increase in book bans in 2023-23 compared to 2021-21, of which 40% occurred in Florida.

“A large share of the individual bans took place in states where legislation or coordinated campaigns by local and national groups have driven mass restrictions on access to literature. Books about race and racism, LGBTQ+ identities, and violence have remained a top target.”

You can read the report here.

Book banning is, I think, part of the recent trend that includes a variety of governmental and private actions focused on reducing our freedoms of speech and press.

According to Freedom House, “The fundamental right to seek and disseminate information through an independent press is under attack, and part of the assault has come from an unexpected source. Elected leaders in many democracies, who should be press freedom’s staunchest defenders, have made explicit attempts to silence critical media voices and strengthen outlets that serve up favorable coverage. The trend is linked to a global decline in democracy itself: The erosion of press freedom is both a symptom of and a contributor to the breakdown.”

All of those who value speech and press freedom should, I think, speak out against this attack on the press. Otherwise, it will become policy even here in the United States. What worries me is that issues in this country have become so partisan with badly slanted news coverage that people are now justifying limiting the rights of those with whom they disagree. It’s as though the people with alternative ideas are without rights.

The U.N. says “Reporters getting killed while chasing a story. Online attacks against women journalists, including death and rape threats. Targeted electronic surveillance to intimidate and silence investigative journalism. This is the dangerous reality for many journalists around the world as media freedom and safety have diminished in the digital age with a grave impact on human rights, democracy, and development.”

According to the PEN report, “Hyperbolic and misleading rhetoric about ‘porn in schools’ and ‘sexually explicit,’ “harmful,’ and ‘age inappropriate’ materials led to the removal of thousands of books covering a range of topics and themes for young audiences. Overwhelmingly, book bans target books on race or racism or featuring characters of color, as well as books with LGBTQ+ characters. This year, banned books also include books on physical abuse, health and well-being, and themes of grief and death. Notably, most instances of book bans affect young adult books, middle-grade books, chapter books, or picture books—books specifically written and selected for younger audiences.”

Those who promote these bans are, quite likely, afraid of the truth. If not, why ban it? In part, there’s a growing patriarchal approach by the government and opinion groups that want to control what we can read. This is unconstitutional on the face of it, so I wonder why so many people are silent and sit at home watching it happen.

If you live in Florida, Texas,  Missouri, Utah, or Pennsylvania, wake up. Or are you sheep, content to eat what the establishment chooses to feed you?

This is not America. This is biased patriarchy run amok on many levels. We need to declare zero tolerance for those who say they should control what we read, hear on the news, and see online. They have no place here and need to move to Russia, China, or North Korea where their views are considered sacred.

–Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell writes novels about fighting the KKK, a group that lives on today through its attempts to cancel our freedoms.