Banning Books is a Supreme Form of Ignorance and Suppression

Gov. Ron DeSantis will be ignominiously studied in history as a repressive governor-dictator who led the state of Florida into a downward spiral of ignorance in his inglorious war on the culture of Black and LGBTQ+ people.

He will be remembered with the likes of the Catholic Church, which ex-communicated Martin Luther for translating the Bible from Greek to German so “common” Germans could read the Word of God. He will be compared to Stalin, who banned the satirical criticism of communism by George Orwell in “Animal Farm,”which is still banned in Cuba and North Korea, obviously two forward-thinking regimes. (And that’s sarcasm I’m throwing down here, in case you missed that.)

You know who else banned books? Adolf Hitler.

Some would suggest DeSantis should instead concentrate on increasing Florida’s literacy rate, since we are among the 10 states with the lowest literacy rates in the nation. Instead of banning books, he could encourage children to read. Oh, wait – that would be too progressive. Imagine a world where school children were encouraged to read by this governor. You may not be able to.

It used to be that our elected leaders read to kids. President George W. Bush was famously reading to schoolchildren when he was advised of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Can you imagine DeSantis reading to schoolchildren about Hank Aaron, the famous African American baseball player who overcame racism to be one of the greatest homerun hitters of all time? Naw, I can’t either. DeSantis, despite his Ivy League education, is one of the most ignorant, racist men in the long history of ignorant, racist men in America.

In doing research for this editorial, I was shocked to learn that the United States has a long history of banning books. We’ve banned some famous titles: “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The Color Purple,” “A Separate Peace,” “Grapes of Wrath,” “Catcher in the Rye,” “A Clockwork Orange,” “Lady Chatterley’s Lover,” “Brave New World,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and even the “Harry Potter” books.

According to PEN America, more than 1,600 books were banned in more than 5,000 schools during the last school year. It found that there were 2,532 instances of individual books being banned, which affected 1,648 titles – meaning the same titles were targeted multiple times in different districts and states. I was horrified to learn that a Missouri School District has banned books by Mark Twain, Shakespeare and even President Lincoln’s history-making Gettysburg Address. With more states rushing to ban books, our governor’s ignorance must be infectious.

Many wouldn’t think of librarians as heroes, but in the 2020s they are rising as leaders of protests to stop book banning. Amanda Jones, a middle school librarian in Livingstone, La., spoke up against book banning and became the target of online harassment where she was called a “pervert” and a “sick pig.” The library staff in Jamestown, a small West Michigan town, was targeted when it refused to pull “queer-themed books” from its shelves. Residents voted to defund the library, the only one in the town.

Not only librarians, but teachers are also being targeted for protesting book bans. Summer Boismier, an educator in Oklahoma, resigned over book bans. Now the Oklahoma Secretary of Education, Ryan Walters, wants to revoke her teaching license.

I always thought book banning was done by ignorant, repressive regimes run by people like Stalin, Hitler and Castro. In modern-day America, our governor is leading the book banning and culture wars. The College Board, which prepares Advance Placement curriculum and exams, spent 10 years developing its African American Studies course, receiving input from 300 professors at 200 colleges nationwide. Yet DeSantis states the course lacks “educational value,” which the College Board labels slander. Imagine, a governor attacking the intellectuals of the College Board and potentially robbing all Floridians of the ability to take AP courses and advance in college.

These are some dangerous times, and ignorance and racism are rising like an evil specter that will potentially overcome America once again, just like Jim Crow laws did.

Reginald J. Clyne is a Miami trial lawyer who has practiced in some of the largest law firms in the United States. Clyne has been in practice since 1987 and tries cases in both state and federal court. He has lived in Africa, Brazil, Honduras and Nicaragua.