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Thumper
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 10, 2003 - 07:04 am: | 
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Hello All,
The book Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers have been banned in a high school in Indiana. Here's the link to the newspaper article: http://www.indystar.com/articles/6/091390-7226-102.html. How weak. Check out the explanation and then get back with me. |
Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 10, 2003 - 11:27 am: |
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As an artist of course I don't believe in censorship but this is an unrealistic stance--in Chris Haydenland certain books would be banned from schools and public libraries though not from bookstores--Rush Limbaugh's SEE I TOLD YOU SO would probably be publicly burned.
What can I say? It happens and will continue to happen. Sales of his book will probably pick up so he is probably jumping for joy. |
Carey
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 10, 2003 - 06:40 pm: |
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Did you notice some of the other books in the top 25. Among them were The Color Purple, Harry Potter and I know Why A Caged Bird Sings. What was the problem with them? I loved The Color Purple, the book and the movie. I can't say that about many books that went to the big Screen. |
ta bonne fee
Rating: 
Votes: 2 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 11, 2003 - 01:50 pm: |
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Wow ... I don't know why I am amazed at the decision of that one school to ban a book such as Fallen Angels. It seems that some factions of society do not want to open their children's eyes to the life that surrounds them. They often equate this with enlisting them into some alternative lifestyle. When will (white) people learn that there are many points of view and ways of living life? Just because you read about how someone else lives doesn't mean that you have to subscribe to those sets of values (or lack thereof).
People of color, especially in this country, have learned to view the world from dualistic point-of-view. There is the dominate cultures eurocentric view, which white folk don't consider a point-of-view rather they see that as the norm, and there is the point-of-view that cultural group that one ascribes themselve to.
Whether you use profanity or not is a choice. One that can be instilled within the young of any given family regardless of their exposure to it in print or in daily life. This reminds me of how difficult some youth find it to separate the fantasy of their visual world (videos, games, etc) from the reality of the world around them (ie - I shoot you you die. There is no cache of lives or replay.) Parents allow their children to view all the violence and such but fail to instruct them on the difference between fantasy and reality.
I think I have gone off into tangent world on this one. All I wanted to express is that if we sequester our children from thoughts and actions that are not connected to our own beliefs, we end up rearing maladjusted, ignorant, intolerable children who, as adults, will not be equipt to deal with the diversity in our world. They will result to hatred and intolerance which leads to a very bleak future. All of this because of the mentality of "my way is right and your way is wrong."
And some of those titles on the most challenged list ...woo! Bridge to Terabithia a child dies. My Brother Sam is Dead, brothers on the opposite side of the Revolutionary War. Go Ask Alice I believe is about suicide. A Wrinkle in Time is about alternate dimensions. The Earth Children series SHOULD be banned because they're TOO darn long!! Just playing, they are long but they are all good reads if you like historical fiction. Or should I say, prehistorical fiction? Oops, forgot about the sex. Those darn prehistorical folk trying to procreate! I almost missed The Giver. That's the teen version of Orwell's 1984.
Speaking of Walter Dean Myers, he has a picture book that came out this past January titled Blues Journey. It is illustrated by his son Christopher. All you blues fans may want to check it out. |
Chris Hayden
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 - 01:53 pm: |
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All:
One thing: by banning them they have assured that these kids will probably read the books--my only worry is they might say "What was all the fuss about?"
Then again, I guess that is what those parents ought to worry about. |
ta bonne fee
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, November 13, 2003 - 08:44 pm: |
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Chris ..good point. Sometimes the best publicity is bad publicity. |
Abernathy
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, November 13, 2003 - 09:11 pm: |
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You call having a book banned from the "LIBRARY" being Banned?
What about Alice Walker whose books were actually banned from existing?
What about other authors whose work has not been allowed to even exist?
This post is kind of silly. There's a thousand books banned from public libraries. People just order them from AMAZON.COM or pick up a copy at Barnes and Noble. No big deal.
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ta bonne fee
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 14, 2003 - 07:20 pm: |
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I suppose in the grand scheme of things it is "no big deal." But if folk allow this type of censorship to continue without thought or protest then more authors will suffer from not allowing their works to exist as you say. I suppose as an educator I would be of a different opinion than you. |
Carey
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 14, 2003 - 08:12 pm: |
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Abernathy my dear man, where did that come from? Silly you say. How does your statement relate to Thump's original post????? T-bone, I like the way you handled that. |
AnonymousX
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 15, 2003 - 10:02 am: |
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Carey, some people just can't see the forest looking so hard for those trees.  Noticed how the same author names and issues are appearing in all these recent posts supposedly by different posters. Hmmm |
Cynique
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 15, 2003 - 12:13 pm: |
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Actually, I thought Abernathy's take on this subject made a salient point. After all, an x-rated movie doesn't prevent adults from going to see it. Restrictions are just rules to be broken. |
Thumper
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 15, 2003 - 08:36 pm: |
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Hello All,
Abernathy: Man, what are you talking about? Alice Walker's book are in print. And it is a big deal. Believe it or not, it's not feasible for some people to buy their books. Not only is money a problem, but so is the space needed to store all those books. And with public libraries and schools being supported by my tax dollars, if I don't care about what books they ban, who will? Indianapolis is not Mayberry, RFD circa 1965. And its about time people realize that and look at the world as it is and not how they WISH it would be. |
Carey
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 16, 2003 - 08:16 pm: |
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Cynique
Maybe I misunderstood something. An x-rated movie is just that. I don't think it's rated x to prevent adults from seeing it. I thought it pulled our coat on the material in the movie such as grapic violence, sex and/or any other type of lewd behavior. |
ABM
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 16, 2003 - 09:28 pm: |
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I think we would all agree that there are certain activities and subject matter that minors should not be exposed to. So, although we might all disagree about the specifics what is/not appropriate, I think we could benefit from ratcheting down the "censorship" rhetoric a bit.
I am, however, always amazed to see/read of "banned books" lists, no matter the apparent rationale for why and how the lists are devised. Because, and maybe I am paranoid, everytime I think about people disallowing books, no matter the reason, I can't help visualizing Nazi Storm Troopers burning mounds of books in the center of Berlin in the 1930's. |
Cynique
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 16, 2003 - 11:38 pm: |
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What I meant, Carey, was that an x-rated movie is a ban, but only for minors, who very often find a way of circumventing it. So, how great an effect does a ban really have? Similarly, what Abernathy seemed to be saying was that banning certain books was nothing more than an empty gesture on the part of a library, and wasn't something that kept people from reading the "forbidden" titles. Thumper's point, however, about his taxes supporting a public library is a legitimate complaint and, as such, does give him the right to disagree with this practice on a matter of principle. |
Carey
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 17, 2003 - 06:32 pm: |
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Hello Cynique
I see where you're coming from. That was an interesting point Thump made about the means or lack there of to read or buy a book. If it were not for the library MANY people could not indulge in the pleasure of reading. Buying books can become an expensive hobby. So yeah, banning books at the library level is a big deal and therefore not an empty gesture. Some people read 2-4 books a weeek, my wife did and although we were not in the poor house we could not afford to spend upwards of $100.00 a week on books. We used the library quite a bit, so again, it's a big deal. Now I must be honest and say I don't remember of a book being banned that WE wanted to read and could not. So I guess it's different strokes for ...... |
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