Found a stat that totally changed how I think about banned books

I saw on the ALA website that over 60% of challenged books in 2023 were by authors of color, and it made me realize my book club's whole debate about censorship was missing the bigger picture on whose stories get silenced.

3 comments

3 Comments

loganl221mo agoMost Upvoted

One public library in my town had to remove a children's book about police officers because parents complained it was pro-police propaganda. Look, I get the numbers are striking but maybe those books are challenged because they push a specific agenda, not because people are trying to silence anyone. A lot of those stats come from a few loud complaints at school boards where parents just want age-appropriate material. You can't ignore that some communities have genuine concerns about what their kids are reading, regardless of the author's background.

rowanellis2mo ago

Oh wow, that stat is wild. It really makes you think about whose voices are actually being centered in these debates.

simonl112mo ago

Had a similar situation at a town hall meeting a few years back. It was supposed to be about new traffic lights but turned into a debate about whose streets matter most. Changed how I listened, paid more attention to the people who don't usually get a turn to speak. Sometimes you just have to step back and let the quiet ones talk first. That statistic would make you stop and recheck who's usually shouting the loudest.