Banned Books Week occurs this year from October 5-11. As a former English teacher of thirty-
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four years, I often taught challenged/banned books in a public high school. Some of my favorites were The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, Slaughterhouse-Five, and Native Son. Other banned books were on my list of “you should read this before you go to college” books. This list included the Kurt Vonnegut book, Breakfast of Champions. I won’t ever forget Vonnegut’s novel because it allowed me to experience a textbook example of a parental book challenge in the fall of 1995. During that episode, our school librarian and the local public library and college library played a huge role in supporting the idea that books should not be banned.
The
whole brouhaha occurred in the small town of Monmouth, Illinois, with a high
school of 500 students. It lasted approximately six weeks and the flames were
fueled by the local media. The parents of a high school junior in my American
Literature class wanted Breakfast of
Champions taken out of the library because it was “pornography and trash”
and not suitable for children. They also wanted to form a committee of parents
to go into all the district libraries and throw out books that they deemed
“trash.” Their student had chosen the Vonnegut book from a list of suggested
books to read for individual book reports. By the time she decided she didn’t
understand it, the report was almost due. So I suggested she read some
secondary sources about the book’s themes.
However,
before she could do so, her parents discovered the book, decided it was
inappropriate, and determined that they wanted to protect all the children of
the district from reading it. They enlisted the local media, giving the
newspapers information about the book and why they considered it to be
pornographic. The parents also contacted the principal, superintendent, and
school board. They did not talk with me. Their viewpoint was that they were
taxpaying citizens who should be able to decide what books were healthy for the
school libraries. They were protecting their child as well as the children of
other families in the district. Besides the local newspapers, they called on
the help of a television station in a metropolitan area an hour north of us. The
media coverage put a great deal of pressure on the school district. It is
interesting to note that the television station did not contact me nor did two
of the three newspapers covering the story locally.
Fortunately, our school library had a policy for selecting books and our district had a policy of steps for those wanting to challenge teaching materials. The steps included the school librarian checking with numerous book review sources, as well as the American Library Association, to see if Breakfast of Champions was considered suitable reading for high school students. She decided it was. The principal also contacted the National Council of Teachers of English and the Illinois Association of Teachers of English and received their support for the suitability of the Vonnegut book.
My
own point of view was that I had to provide materials that were suitable and
recommended for all students in the high school. So if a family objected to
material for their own student, I suggested alternative books that would convey
the spirit of the assignment. But in the Vonnegut incident, the parents went
right past me. It was my own belief that the Vonnegut book should be available
for students who wanted to read it, and one set of parents should not prevent
that. A number of my past students had read Breakfast
of Champions and loved it.
Halfway
through the storm, one of the college students who worked at the local
newspaper decided to call Kurt Vonnegut and get his take on the issue. Needless
to say, the conversation was hilarious, and Vonnegut was shocked that they were
not going after Slaughterhouse-5. This
emboldened me to write a letter to the author, and I added some of the more
inflammatory newspaper clippings.
The
end of the “tempest in a teapot” came when the school board voted neither to
ban the book from the library nor to allow parents to go into the school
libraries and take out materials. Besides their support, throughout those six
weeks I had the backing of both the superintendent and principal because they
trusted my judgment. That, in itself, was a wonderful gift.
However, a second gift came in my school mailbox. Kurt Vonnegut had received my letter/clippings, and wrote me the loveliest and funniest letter in return, commenting on book censorship. In part, he stated, “You and your students are lucky to be in Norman Rockwell’s America, where Jeffersonian debates are possible and usually entertaining. One community banned Slaughterhouse-5, and a reporter called me to find out what I had to say about it, and I said that the head of the School Committee was a piss-ant, and he dropped dead the next day.”
The
entire incident reminded me that principles are important and are worth
defending. The late Mr. Vonnegut’s letter is framed and hanging on the wall of
my living room.
What’s
the best banned book you’re read?
I had a group which claimed The Diary of Anne Frank, and The Devil's Arithmetic, which we used in a joint language social studies program, were too "distressful" for students. The compromise was that students could opt out and select alternatives (under the theory that it should be the family's prerogative to select reading for their children) but not one of the students opted out.
ReplyDeleteMore distressing to me, when my children were small, were the objections to children's books with anthropomorphism on the grounds that it was contrary to God's will.
So true, Kathleen. I am always astonished at the things people object to. Of course, dealing with high school is probably different than dealing with elementary children. But in all those 34 years, I onlyhad 3 objections to books. Two were parents who were reasonable, called me, and I gave their student an alternative. This case, above, was the only one where they skipped me and spoke to the folks above me. And there was no compromising. Thank goodness the school board was reasonable.
DeleteI'm not sure if I ever read a book simply because it had been banned somewhere. I have read too many books that are now on the list of "most banned books" to have a favorite.
ReplyDeleteOften, I find banned books the most interesting, because they deal with difficult issues. They make you think. Consider, "To Kill a Mockingbird."
DeleteI've read all the books you mentioned back in the 70s when some of them were published. I agree that The Grapes of Wrath was obscene--but that was the entire point--how economics can mess with the human condition and morality. It was very much like the films of the Nazi's bulldozing dead bodies into mass graves at the concentration camps, which we saw in school! It was shocking, but it was the best educational experience I've ever received.
ReplyDeleteSadly, the public does not want their students to be "uncomfortable" anymore. I agree with you, Elaine!
DeleteI love this. I never understood banning books. Having been raised in 1950s and 60s in the Catholic Church and attending parochial schools, we were quite familiar with the concept of banning. I tended to follow my mother’s example. Get the book, see the movie, and figure it out for myself. My fav from the era - Catcher in the Rye.
ReplyDeleteYup, you are reading banned books for sure. When I first started teaching in 1968, the department chair forbid me to use that book in my classes or even as book reports. It was a very conservative town and district.
DeleteSusan, what a memorable story!
ReplyDeleteMy kids went through the Fulton County, Georgia, public schools. I was so tired of what was considered "acceptable" fiction at all levels. I remember a big fight with some parents when the AP English reading list included The DaVinci Code. Our whole family read and discussed it. My parents never censored my reading (Catcher in the Rye), and I never censored what my children read.
I'm with you, Margaret. I occasionally read something before one of my kids because of the maturity thing, but inevitably let them read it. I'm not sure any of them are worse off for having read banned books.
DeleteGood for you, standing up to people who want to ban books. We need more people with the strength of character that you showed.
ReplyDeleteWell, thank you, Grace. But I can assure you I had a pretty tough six weeks, and there are some people who still think I was the teacher at the high school who taught dirty books. When I wrote my memoir about teaching, I titled it "The Education of a Teacher (Including Dirty Books and Pointed Looks." It was a pretty apt title!
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