There was a time when authors on the LEFT would write stories about priggish conservatives coming to take everyone’s books away… right prediction, wrong party.
It’s not ‘the Church-lady’ that’s asking books to be taken off the shelves.
It’s amazing that the left of thirty years ago and the left of today can even tolerate each other, let alone stand together on issues.
But now? Now the Left is playing the role of censor. And the books they want to get rid of will leave you shaking your head. (We told you this was coming, too)
In Biloxi, they are removing ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee from 8th Grade Reading lists (but not the library).
Why would they possibly want to remove such a wonderful book? One that ‘spoke truth to power’ and who had a white lawyer standing by his principles and defending a wrongfully accused black man in a community where the defendant’s rights as a citizen were not much respected?
It makes people ‘uncomfortable’.
Kenny Holloway, vice president of the Biloxi School Board said, “There were complaints about it. There is some language in the book that makes people uncomfortable, and we can teach the same lesson with other books. — SunHerald
Uncomfortable. Seriously.
It’s a literary masterpiece, read around the world, in multiple languages. But you have ‘other’ books that can teach the same lesson. Sure you do. And they’re every bit as rich and textured, right?
What about it makes people uncomfortable? In the entire book, there are 48 uses of the dreaded n-word.
That’s the same word that appears at least that many times on any given rap album. Or Chris Rock stand-up act. So obviously it’s a word people need to be ‘sheltered’ from.
We wouldn’t want anyone to feel ‘uncomfortable’ while dealing with great truths, or the human condition, now would we? To challenge assumptions? What else should we ban?
How about JFK’s ‘Ask Not’ speech? That would make an entire generation uncomfortable. For shame! How could anyone — especially a Democrat! — possibly call for patriotism, or allegiance to any cause greater than oneself?
What about Rev Dr. MLK’s ‘I have a dream’ speech? That would make most of today’s protesters uncomfortable. Or it should. Since race-baiting leftists have generally abandoned the principle of being judged by character, not by the color of the skin.
(But go ahead and keep calling anyone with skin lighter than a latte ‘racist’. That’s doing a fine job of solving the social problems you rail against.)
Maybe if we spent more time expanding the minds of children to engage with ideas that were outside their experience — like what To Kill A Mockingbird was explicitly written to do, as were many other ‘banned’ books — they would spend less time in their college years being whipped up into angry mobs, triggered by some imagined ‘slight’.
An email response by a reader of the same newspaper gave a great explanation for why this is a short-sighted and foolish decision.
“I think it is one of the most disturbing examples of censorship I have ever heard, in that the themes in the story humanize all people regardless of their social status, education level, intellect, and of course, race. It would be difficult to find a time when it was more relevant than in days like these.”
Truly.
