Don’t Burn This Book!
Dear Leading Ladies,
A recent trip to Berlin included a historical tour of the city. Since Germany has an impressive and extensive record of reckoning with its past, the tour not surprisingly covered the underground memorial to the 1933 book burning in Bebelplatz, a beautiful and notable center of cultural activity. On May 10, 1933, members of the Nazi German Student Union organized burnings throughout the country of important works of world literature they deemed dangerous. Works by Thomas Mann, Erich Kästner, Stefan Zweig, Heinrich Heine, Karl Marx, Albert Einstein, and Kurt Tucholsky were among those destroyed in Berlin. Many of the authors were Jewish, and for that reason alone, their books were considered unworthy. In fact, Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels pronounced that day in Bebelplatz that “the era of extreme Jewish intellectualism is now at an end.”
The memorial, created in 1995 by Israeii sculptor Micha Ullmann, consists of a large clear glass plate set in the ground in the middle of the square, revealing a library below with shelves devoid of books. An inscription quotes Heine: “That was but a prelude; where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people as well.”
Book burning in Germany 1933. Source unknown.
Book banning in our country is not new. Cases date back to the 1600s, when works written by those who strayed from the Puritan values and expectations were banned. Then, in the 19th century, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin was banned for its anti-slavery sentiments, at times being cited for fomenting feelings that caused the Civil War. Then, there was Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, banned for its coarse language, and On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, banned for its anti-Christian ideas. In the 2000s, we’re seeing pushback about the Harry Potter series because of its supposed promotion of the occult and Satanism, and Sherman Alexi’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian because a character masturbates.
Book banning is more frightening than ever
But now, we are witnessing a new and alarming increase in book banning that feels as repressive and frightening in its expansiveness as the German book burning. Books by and about people of color, books about racism, and books by and about LGBTQ people are most under attack. School boards are targeting books they have decided are somehow damaging for students – books such as Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Ibram X. Kendi’s National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Texas State Representative Matt Krause recently placed more than 800 books, most dealing with race and LGBTQ issues, on a watch list. In January, a Tennessee school board even voted to ban Maus, Art Spiegleman’s graphic novel about how one man survived the Holocaust. “The American Library Association said in a preliminary report that it received an ‘unprecedented’ 330 reports of book challenges, each of which can include multiple books, last fall,” according to the New York Times.
Who’s behind the new bans?
The book banning is being pushed by a parental rights movement that is urging passage of legislation in Republican-leaning states to keep certain books out of the hands of children. Indeed, it’s the politicalization that is different about the present spate of banning, Britten Follett of Follett School Solutions, one of the country’s largest providers of books to K-12 schools, recently told the New York Times.
Removing books that tell the true history of slavery and racism in this country denies legitimacy to the reality of life for Black Americans. Removing books about LGBTQ matters further marginalizes students who are already at great emotional and physical risk. Removing books about the Holocaust comes dangerously close to promoting revisionist history during a time of increasing antisemitism in our country.
And what could come next? If books are not literally being burned, are they not being burned figuratively? And if the authors whose works are being removed are predominantly people of color or LGTBQ, is it too alarmist to take Heinrich Heine’s words as a warning knell?
What can we do?
The biochemist and science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, himself a Russian Jewish immigrant whose works were never banned, said, “Any book worth banning is a book worth reading.”
The Atlantic recently compiled a list of the most banned books for students. Pick a couple you haven’t read (or read recently) to see what all the fuss is about. Then buy some for the young people in your lives, especially if they are not being exposed to them in their schools. Complicated, difficult issues should not be ignored. They must be faced, and students must be guided through them.
Also, Banned Books Week is September 18-24, 2022. Find out more at bannedbooksweek.org. Ask your local library and independent book store what they are doing to recognize Banned Books Week. Encourage them to set up a display and include some information on their social media platforms and in their newsletters.
And while we are on the subject of books, keep putting aside some books for our annual book swap and sale on Saturday, April 9 in the side yard of the Book Shop of Beverly Farms. Rain date is Sunday, April 10. Proceeds and books left after the sale will benefit HAWC in Salem (offering help and support to victims of domestic abuse); The REAL Program in Lynn (a literacy program for children); The Movement Family in Lawrence (a support program for those in need of a second family); and Dignity Matters in Framingham (a group that provides feminine hygiene products for people in need). Children’s and young adult books are especially requested. Bring books to the event or text 978-697-0753 for advance pick-up or drop-off. Books for sale or swap must have publishing dates of 2010 or later, except for art or photography books in good condition.
We may even have a table devoted to banned books!
With hope,
Therese
Judy
Mary
Beth
Leading Ladies Executive Team
ladies@leadingladiesvote.org
leadingladiesvote.org