Challenge: Reading Beyond Our Personal Bans

Book banning in the United States has devolved from attempts to protect society from questionably moral content into eliminating stories from people who are not like those in power: cishet, white, Christian, males. I became more aware of the complexity of this power dynamic on my recent drive to Chicago when I listened to 1A’s episode, “The Link Between Misogyny and Violent Extremism”. In listening to the episode, I was reminded that we give up so much when we live inside the instruction that we cannot talk to people with whom we don’t agree. We build walls that divide our communities when we blindly accept what everyone says about the other, and don’t experience life for ourselves.

So, I’m going to challenge us all to pick up a book that works against whiteness. The book might or might not be banned, but it should be written by someone who represents the group featured in the story. I know that can be difficult to find sometimes, but do try. Most important, the book should contain a story about people with whom you are the least comfortable, whom you know the least about, have had very little experience with, maybe even actively avoid. White police officers. Black male teens. First gen Asian Americans. Women in hijabs. People with visual disabilities. Perhaps it’s people whose bodies carry a lot more or a lot less weight than you, or you’re not sure about trans, gender non-binary, or asexual ways of being. Maybe you have an aversion to Native American history. Have you banned these stories from your reading profile?

In looking at lists (list 1, list 2) of BIPOC authored books about mental health issues, I’m realizing how few of these books have been on my radar, and consequently how few I’ve read, how awful I probably am in conversations about mental illness. I’m going to commit to reading Ab(solutely) Normal: Short Stories That Smash Mental Health Stereotypes edited by Nora Shalaway Carpenter and Rocky Callen (Candlewick, 2023).

Join me. Let’s fight book bans on a personal level, one book at a time. Because bans aren’t only about books; they’re working to erase people and their stories.

Be well and do good

Filed under: Banned Books