We've all heard of book banning. Chances are at some point in high school your literature teacher told you about the list of books that are frequently banned and how "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" have been removed from some schools. Along with those beloved series, books such as the "Great Gatsby", "The Catcher in The Rye", "To Kill a Mockingbird", "Lord of the Flies", "Brave New World", "1984" and many others have been banned. Practically every famous and influential book is on the list. The reasons include foul language, sexual tones or scenes, excessive violence, overly-patriotic tones, anti-patriotic tones, anti-buisness sentiments, "demoralizing ideas," and one was as so vague they only said "inappropriate" content. Basically, these books were banned because they talked about reality. They addressed to messy, unpleasant and scary parts of the world. The use of the n-word throughout To Kill a Mockingbird and Huckleberry Finn does not make those books racist, it means those books acknowledge racism. 1984 was seen as "pro-communist" by a school in Jacksonville Florida, but the purpose of the book is to reveal the evils of communism. However, even if The Kill a Mockingbird was racist and 1984 was pro-communist they would still don't deserve being banned.
We all know the first amendment to the US Constitution guarantees the freedom of speech. But we need to remember why, particularly right now. The election season is in full swing, and with is comes people trying to silence the opposition under claims that remind me of book banning. Racism, intolerance, over-tolerance, anti-patriotism, promotion of treason, or even "demoralizing ideas" are all prevalent issues in this election. I would, however, encourage everybody, on both parties and in independent parties to step back. These banned books shaped history. The world would look radically different if it lacked radical books. Offensive books. Books that challenged us to re-consider the way we think. Just because a book, or a speech, offends you does not mean that we should silence them, for two key reasons.
The first reason is the basic principle of free speech. This is so important because it enables the sharing of thoughts and growth. It also enables destructive people to have a voice, but we cannot pick and choose who we want to hear. The intent to use that sort of power may seem beneficial but it quickly becomes tyrannical. You want to silence the racists and bigots. But then you want to silence people who radically disagree with you. And then you want to silence to anybody who speaks out against you because you know that what you are doing is right. Except maybe you aren't. Maybe you don't get to determine what morality is. Maybe nobody, and no group of people can unilaterally decide what is right. This is why free speech is so essential. But it is not the only reason I believe we need to be more careful when condemn people for speaking their minds.
The other reason is that offensive and challenging opinions are often the ones the create necessary change. The Birth of a Nation, which is probably the most racist film in history, was once widely beloved. We grow out of outdated opinions and into new ideas, but we cannot do this if we do not allow new, different and potentially offensive opinions to be heard.
Censorship limits both freedom and progress and we cannot indulge our own bias by eliminating differing voices. So please don't silence the opposition. Listen to them. Disagree with them, argue with them and debate with them. But do not silence them.
