Posted on March 22, 2022 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

The Guardian is far from the first news outlet to have a think piece on the rise in book bans and challenges in the US.

It usually strikes us as interesting, though, to hear an outsider's perspective on our country.

Claire Armitstead takes a look at the current rise in book bans and challenges in the US, describing it as "a tit-for-tat controversy" with Republican officials — whose states are in the spotlight for these battles — arguing that the left is just as guilty of the behavior.

Suzanne Nossel, the CEO of the free-speech organization PEN America, agrees that both ends of the political spectrum are at fault.

She describes the difference, however, as the left tending to concern itself with racially offensive terms in books, while the right works (often successfully) to enact government rules over what can be read.

Armitstead also describes censorship — or the lack thereof — in other countries, both past and present, as context ... and warning ... for the US.

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Categories: Today in Books

Comments
It should not be banned. I don’t support banning books, but I do believe that there are appropriate ages for children to read some books.
Sherrie Bratcher | 3/23/22 at 6:11 AM
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