How is This 2022?

January 30, 2022

I have noticed, over the past few months, that there has been a greater push for the banning of books, or the pulling of books from the school libraries and reading lists.  The idea of challenging books is not new; there have always been groups of people who deem it their 'responsibility' to shield the children of our society from ideas they decide are unacceptable or inappropriate.  The problem of course, is that one group of people deciding what is appropriate for all children to have access to means that they are by default denying SOMEONE ELSE'S children that access.  You don't want to let your child read The Great Gatsby?  Well, by all means, don't have your child read it.  You don't want your kid to have access to The Hate U Give?  That is your prerogative.  You think your child isn't mature enough for the themes in The Handmaid's Tale?  Fair enough.  You know your kid. Don't have them read it.  But to decide for your child, and mine, and everyone else's in the community that somehow your child's maturity and your own sensitivity or perception of the world is the litmus test by which all books should be assessed?  No.  Absolutley not.  How is it possible that in the year 2022 we are seeing a resurgence of this pompous, righteous attitude, supported by people in power in our communities?  Literature is meant to elicit empathy, anger, love, joy, sadness.  It is meant to show us who we are as humans--the strong resilient side, the compassionate side, and yes, even the ugly side.  It's meant to challenge us to think about they ways in which we as humans have grown, have persevered, have connected--and it's meant to show us how we have hurt one another, how we have unjustly profited from or abused people.  We cannot ignore the dark side of humanity and hope to avoid it rising its ugly head again.  We cannot truly celebrate all that is beautiful in humanity if we cannot see what we must rise above.  We are both there in the mirror, and that doesn't go away if the mirror is cast aside.  We only conquer what we want to fight against in our society if we can drag it out into the open, dig in deep and examine it closely, and strip it of its power.