To Kill a Mind

I remember my first day of College English. We all filed into the classroom, found a seat, and were handed a syllabus. Well, as part of the syllabus, there was a list of books that were required reading to pass the class. The list included a lot of really great books, many of which have become my favorites.
My amazing professor also gave us this little bit of information: "In the past, I have always included the 'Grapes of Wrath' by John Steinbeck as required reading. However, many of the parents in the community have complained about this, so it is no longer required. However, I STRONGLY encourage you each to read this book on your own time."
I did read the book on my own time. I found it to be an incredible, insightful read. I really couldn't figure out why it was banned, so I asked my teacher. The answer: because of the religious overtones surrounding a character named Jim Casey, who is an ex-reverend in the book.
I remember thinking, "Wow. That might just be the dumbest thing I have ever heard".

So why am I telling you all this?

Well, it's because recently a really stupid bill was introduced in the Arizona State Legislature. The bill, SB 1467, basically says that teachers in Arizona Public School's (including universities) cannot say or teach anything "that would violate the standards adopted by the Federal Communications Commission concerning obscenity, indecency and profanity if that speech or conduct were broadcast on television or radio.”

Now that might really be the dumbest thing that I have ever heard.

All this has made me look back on all the literary works that I was required to read during school. He's some of the one's that I remember:

Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare
Othello - William Shakespeare
The Taming of the Shrew - William Shakespeare
Hamlet - William Shakespeare
Midsummer Night's Dream - William Shakespeare
The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams
Oedipus the King - Sophocles
Oedipus at Colonus - Sophocles
My Antonia - Willa Cather
Bless Me Ultima - Rudolfo Anaya
All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy
A Separate Peace - John Knowles
Animal Farm - George Orwell
The Giver - Lois Lowery
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - Frederick Douglass
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Chosen - Chaim Potok
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Edith Frome - Edith Wharton
The Turn of the Screw - Henry James
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Ishmael - Daniel Quinn
1984 - George Orwell
Walden - Henry David Thoreau

Okay, that is obviously not a complete list. It's the ones that I remember.

Do you realize that if this new bill were to become law pretty much ALL of these books would be banned from future curriculum in Arizona public schools?
Can you even imagine a classroom that DOESN'T teach Shakespeare? I kinda thought that 'Of Mice and Men' and 'To Kill a Mockingbird' were pretty much standard in schools across the USA.
What, exactly, are they suppose to read in Arizona literature classes?

The thing is, all books that are worth reading, are controversial in some way. That's the point. They are designed to make us THINK. GASP!
In the greatest novels, there is no black and white answer. The reason is because real life is gray. Real life is messy, and often there isn't a right or a wrong solution and endings aren't always wrapped up with a neat little bow on top.

Interestingly enough, the people who are often all for book banning are religious fanatics. They are afraid that if they expose their kids to something like 'The Grapes of Wrath' that come Sunday morning, their child will wake up and decide not to go to church because that's what Jim Casey did.
Yet, these same people are the ones who encourage, or even force, their kids to read the Bible - which is quite possibly the most violent and gray book ever written.
For Example:
In one part of the Bible, GOD hands down a set of rules, called the ten commandments. I'm sure you're familiar with the story. Well, one of these rules states, "though shalt not kill". Yet, later on, David becomes a hero for killing one of the Bible's biggest bullies - Goliath.
Talk about controversial.

If you are still having a hard time agreeing with me on the stupidity of banning books, here are some pretty convincing statistics:

■ 85 percent of all juveniles who interface with the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate.

■ More than 60 percent of all prison inmates are functionally illiterate.

■ Penal institution records show that inmates have a 16% chance of returning to prison if they receive literacy help, as opposed to 70% who receive no help.

■ Illiteracy and crime are closely related. The Department of Justice states, “The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is welded to reading failure.” Over 70% of inmates in America's prisons cannot read above a fourth grade level.
(National Institute for Literacy, 1998)

What this is saying is, that the thing that is even more dangerous than your child reading the fuck word or a sex scene, is NOT allowing your child to read good thought provoking books.

If you still don't agree with me, then maybe it's time you picked up and read '1984' or 'The Giver' or 'The Handmaid's Tale'. You can read, for yourself, just how dangerous this book banning road may be.