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Banned Books Week: Monday Thoughts
Handling the fascist fear of controversial books.
Happy start to Banned Books Week! While researching this article, I read the list of books that have been banned this year. I thought that it would show me an author to highlight that isn’t Judy Blume or Shel Silverstein since I love them, but we need to talk about who is targeted in the here and now.
Instead, I got demoralized. The long list and the reasons for each bit of censorship made it hit home just how arbitrary the restrictions are. So are the people that initiated them. Heck, the Freedom Writers Diary, which was all about why giving up on “problem teens” , was censored and teachers fired because people called it “pornography”.
So instead, I’m going in a different direction. I’m going to discuss fascism and how its followers refuse to be challenged.
Why Are Fascists Afraid of Books?
It’s a good question. Hitler’s famous for the number of books that he burned in Berlin. The Nazis also burned down the largest trans research facility, ensuring that many setbacks would happen for people that didn’t fit in the gender spectrum. When the Iranian revolution happened, the government didn’t just forcibly close down bookshops but also burned down movie teachers expelled the teachers…
