Book bans in America are rising. Here's a look at what's lost. — Transcript

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1. 0:00what do these three books have in common
2. 0:02any guesses
3. 0:03there are three of the most commonly
4. 0:05challenged and banned books in the
5. 0:06united states a study by the american
6. 0:09library association found that more than
7. 0:111500 books were challenged or banned by
8. 0:13schools libraries and universities in
9. 0:162021
10. 0:17most were written by or about lgbtqia
11. 0:21or black individuals
12. 0:22for comparison the association noted
13. 0:25just 273 challenges or bans in 2020
14. 0:29even children's books are coming under
15. 0:31attack they include a book called
16. 0:33anti-racist baby
17. 0:35uh by abram kendy do you agree with this
18. 0:37book that is being taught with kids that
19. 0:39the babies are racist it was a symbolic
20. 0:43moment of just how much people like
21. 0:46senator cruz is trying to distract from
22. 0:50the real issue or even to demonize
23. 0:53materials and books that are actually
24. 0:56good for children helpful for children
25. 0:58allow children to
26. 1:00be able to operate in this highly
27. 1:03unequal
28. 1:04and multi-racial world
29. 1:06book banning in the united states is
30. 1:08nothing new for decades there have been
31. 1:10cries to remove certain books off
32. 1:12shelves and out of the classroom
33. 1:14many book banning efforts historically
34. 1:16focused on depictions of slavery
35. 1:18segregation and racism
36. 1:20one of the most famously banned books to
37. 1:23kill a mockingbird by harper lee was
38. 1:25published in 1960 honors harper lee for
39. 1:28her outstanding contribution to the
40. 1:29great literary tradition of america it
41. 1:33topped the list of most challenged books
42. 1:34for years despite earning a pulitzer
43. 1:36prize being adapted into an
44. 1:38oscar-winning film and being generally
45. 1:41regarded as one of the most important
46. 1:42novels in a generation in our courts
47. 1:47all men are
48. 1:49created
49. 1:51equal
50. 1:52nowadays the book is a mainstay in
51. 1:54curriculums across the country but the
52. 1:57practice of book banning is finding new
53. 1:59life and growing to include both classic
54. 2:01novels and newer works we're in a moment
55. 2:05of intense contestation over issues of
56. 2:09diversity
57. 2:10inclusion let's say you take these books
58. 2:13out of the library
59. 2:15what are you going to do with them
60. 2:17you're going to put them in the street
61. 2:18light them on fire
62. 2:20where are they going
63. 2:23represents them i don't have a clue but
64. 2:26i would burn them what we're seeing is
65. 2:29people politicians tapping into people's
66. 2:32frustration their anxiety about these
67. 2:34changes and
68. 2:36pointing to book bans as a kind of rally
69. 2:38and cry to say you know here's a way
70. 2:41that we can push back these tithes that
71. 2:43we don't agree with parents and
72. 2:45politicians commonly cite things like
73. 2:47profanity political indoctrination and
74. 2:50sexually and racially explicit language
75. 2:52as reasons for wanting a book to be
76. 2:54banned you all are going to hear
77. 2:57what our children are hearing in books
78. 3:02and don't stop me public school teachers
79. 3:04and librarians are at the forefront of
80. 3:06this battle the reason certain stories
81. 3:08that you think shakespeare like lasts
82. 3:10through the centuries is because
83. 3:13there are themes that are just timeless
84. 3:15love friendship betrayal war death and
85. 3:17so all of these themes
86. 3:19are concurrent through the new books now
87. 3:22that have seemed to kind of garner the
88. 3:24censorship and the ire of certain people
89. 3:27they're thematically still the same at
90. 3:30the heart of them it's just the
91. 3:32characters in that story
92. 3:34engaging in that theme of love discovery
93. 3:37self-identification
94. 3:39whatever it might be
95. 3:41look different the dangers of censoring
96. 3:43books with diverse characters are
97. 3:45twofold these books allow children to
98. 3:47see people who look like them
99. 3:49represented in novels helping them feel
100. 3:51less alone they also provide an
101. 3:53opportunity for readers to learn about
102. 3:55those who aren't like them people who
103. 3:57come from diverse backgrounds and then
104. 4:00the kind of window aspect is for other
105. 4:03people and students to be able to see
106. 4:05outside themselves which i think you
107. 4:07know kind of builds those bridges
108. 4:08creates more empathy when you can walk a
109. 4:10mile in someone else's shoes and
110. 4:13understand something from their
111. 4:14perspective
112. 4:16that's something that you just can't
113. 4:17verbalize in a lesson like you have to
114. 4:20walk through a story in a book to get
115. 4:22both of those things the reason why i
116. 4:24stood against my my school district's
117. 4:26book band was because i didn't want
118. 4:27future african-american kids to go
119. 4:29through some of the things i went
120. 4:30through growing up books that highlight
121. 4:31our differences and teach others how to
122. 4:32address diversity are crucial these
123. 4:34books shouldn't be up for debate books
124. 4:37are one of the tools
125. 4:39that allow us to be lifelong learners of
126. 4:41all the things we could be banning
127. 4:44these folks are banning books but it
128. 4:46also demonstrates
129. 4:47just the power of books books aren't
130. 4:50dangerous at least they're not dangerous
131. 4:52to to to those of us who want to create
132. 4:55an equitable injustice side
133. 5:03[Music]