American book ban hysteria: dictionaries and encyclopedias forbidden in Florida schools
Dictionaries and encyclopedias removed
Book banning in US schools has reached a new level of censorship: the removal of dictionaries and encyclopedias in Escambia County, Florida.
Based on DeSantis legislation
The schools in the Florida county said they removed the dictionaries off shelves to adhere to a law that governor Ron DeSantis signed last year designed to police descriptions of “sexual conduct”, according to PEN America, an organization that advocates for freedom of expression.
More than 1,600 banned books
Five dictionaries are on the district’s list of more than 1,600 books banned pending investigation in December 2023, along with eight different encyclopedias, PEN America reported.
More than 5,500 book bans across 41 states
The past two school years have demonstrated a mounting crisis of book bans. From July 2021 to June 2023, PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans recorded 5,894 instances of book bans across 41 states and 247 public school districts.
“Copycat bans”
Moreover, “copycat bans” have emerged as a key component of the book ban movement, with a portion of titles removed seemingly because another district removed it elsewhere.
Banned topics and targeted identities
There has been a sustained focus on banning books written for young adults, especially when those books are about “difficult topics”, such as violence and racism, or include historically marginalized identities, mainly, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.
Activism and religious minorities
Themes related to rights and activism, as well as books that reflect religious minorities have also been banned, according to PEN America.
A book ban record high
According to several free speech advocates, even though book bans in public schools have recurred throughout American history, the country has never seen as many book bans as now.
Book bans related to US culture wars
The numbers of banned books in schools are at a historic high due to the culture war taking center stage in US politics, according to Deborah Caldwell-Stone, who has tracked and analyzed book bans across the country, per CNN.
Book bans related to politics and legislation
Caldwell-Stone estimated that at least 40% of the bans listed on PEN America’s 2021 report were connected to proposed or enacted legislation or to political pressure from elected officials to restrict the teaching of certain concepts.
Stirring up right-wing political engagement?
Many people believe that book banning is a political strategy. Writer Ashley Hope Pérez told The Guardian that the goal is to “stir up right-wing political engagement by drawing still brighter lines around targeted identities.”
Book ban backlash
A Utah parent who opposed the book bans made a point by writing a letter in April to school councils requesting to review holy books, such as the Bible and the Book of Mormon, due to sexual and violent content.
Photo: Aaron Burden/Unsplash
Utah removed the Bible but not the Book of Mormon
According to CNN, the request resulted in a Utah school district removing the King James Bible from elementary and middle school libraries, but not the Book of Mormon.
Legal suit against Florida county
Now, a group of Florida parents, students and authors, and PEN America and Penguin Random House are suing the Escambia County school district.
Violation of rights
In the first of its kind federal lawsuit, the group alleges that an earlier set of book bans and restrictions violate their rights to free speech and equal protection under the law.
Florida and Texas lead the book ban movement
Florida continues to lead the country in number of books banned, alongside Texas, but the worsening crisis has spread to 41 states.
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