Let's Ban the Ban

Why were books written? Why? To teach lessons, of course. It doesn't matter if it's the children's book, Ferdinand, or one of Jane Austen's classics. Ferdinand educates on the importance of being one's self. Pride and Prejudice, one of Austen's masterpieces, instructs on the challenges of love. However, there are books in the modern society that are being locked away, that are not being permitted to teach their lessons. No book should ever be banned! The character's actions, or the ending, or the diction, might not be to the liking of all, but is that a justified reason to silence a teacher forever?

It is obvious to see why many books would be banned from schools in this day and age. To Kill A Mockingbird, The Color Purple, Huckleberry Finn - all of these classics have absolutely one thing in common, the mistreatment of black people. Within the pages of each one of these books lies horrific accusations against the colored characters and taunting names that should never be mentioned. The reader sits in disgust as a white man shoots a black man for simply being black (To Kill A Mockingbird). Schools today, ban books that have a dour theme, books that make one's skin crawl and feel ashamed of the things America did to the people of Africa. Isn't that a good thing? Students need to be reading about the terrifying things of the past. They need to be understanding of the mistakes made by their ancestors. To Kill A Mockingbird is not a book that should be read to demonstrate the power of the word nigger. No, it is book that should be cherished because a man of unfathomable courage stands up for a weaker victim simply because it is the right thing to do. That is what the students will remember! They will remember that Atticus Finch defended Tom Robinson.

Young people need an example to follow. While many think an influential example is a good person doing good things at a good time, teenagers, who think they are all wise and powerful, sometimes need to observe what the bad does to someone who partakes in it constantly. The Great Gatsby, a book of partying and chaos, may be conceived as a book promoting a life of low morals. Jay Gatsby falls in love with a married woman. Daisy Buchanan's husband is having an affair on the weekends. For these reasons the book is controversial. No teacher wants students reading about such poor desicions made by characters of little or no decency. However, the finale of this book justifies everything that was written within the beginning pages. What happens to Jay Gatsby, the man who seduced a married woman? He dies. How does Daisy find peace in the end of the book? She doesn't. She remains lost and hopeless forever. By reading this book, students are preached to about consequences and heartache. Just because the characters of the 1920s novel drink a little too much and party a little too hard does not mean it is detrimental to a student's education. It instructs them and provokes thought on the hazards of an irresponsible lifestyle.

Watering down the past happens so easily. Teachers talk about black and white segregation and the holocaust in classrooms day by day. Students find it easy to just zone out because they have heard the same story over and over. Reading a book that is harsh and direct and true is the one thing that speaks to the soul. Stereotypes are shattered when one reads an autobiography of a black person. The colored people of the south don't appear as mistreated anymore. No, it is much worse! They are abused, tortured, and ripped from their family. If books are going to be utilised to their fullest potential they need to be read, understood, and applied. To learn the lessons of the past, a book that hurts the heart might have to be read. So let's stop banning books and let them do what they are supposed to do. Teach.