Banned Books Week: Which of your favorite books might be a banned book?

This week, I came across the BannedBooksWeek hashtag in my twitter feed.  

From librarians to book publishers to lovers of books, everyone was sharing information about beloved books that were banned once upon a time or books that are under fire right now. A quick google search showed me that Banned Books Week (being held this year from September 23-29) was first launched in 1982 after a sudden increase in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. It advocates for something extremely important: the freedom to read, which is really the freedom to express and communicate ideas and the freedom to think.

What was really interesting for me was how many different kinds of books have been banned at different times. The list included everything from classics like John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath to Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl to beloved children’s books like Charlotte’s Web by E.B.White.

What really takes the cake are some of the reasons for why the book was banned at that particular time. This 2013 piece by Buzzfeed, for example, talks about how The Wizard of Oz was banned in 1928 by all public libraries in Chicago because of its “ungodly” influence “for depicting women in strong leadership roles.” Now, of course, it’s a classic and Dorothy with her red ruby slippers is one of “the” iconic American fictional characters.

Just looking at these different lists was interesting. Depending on the time, the place, and the people, it seems like anything can be banned. I think that’s a lesson to all of us as sensitive creatives learning to express our voice. Even the simplest expressions and leaps of imagination, like the talking animals in Charlotte’s Web, were threatening to someone because they had a specific worldview and thought the talking characters were somehow an “insult to God.” So, when we try to say something, even if we don’t want to be confrontational or disrespectful, it has the possibility of triggering someone.

But that’s really about them. It’s not about us. As long as we have the right intention, we have the right to express what’s true for us, even if it inadvertently threatens someone. We have the right to express our imagination, which I think is another gift from God. We also have the right to say it as it is, even if it doesn’t always come across as polite because as I am learning, people might “like” you if you are always nice and don’t do anything to threaten them but they will often respect you, in time, if you stand up for who you are and for what you believe.

And even if they don’t respect you or come around, at least, you will respect yourself.