History and Reasons Behind Censorship of Books in America

[Adrian Laguna]

I'm doing a research paper on the Censorship of Books in America. I decided that I shall talk about the why and how this happens, as well as give a general overview of the history of the phenomenon and how it is affected by changing times.

I do not want anyone to do the research for me, though you are more than welcome to link to interesting websites if you want. What I am interested in, and would very much appreciate, is the personal opinion and insights of various forum memebers on this. The websites and books I've got plenty of (particularly interesting is a book from the "Opposing Viewpoints" series, which shows both sides to the issue).

[Adrian Laguna]

Naturally everyone that will be cited in the bibliography. I will contribute my personal opinion and insights into the subject will be forthcoming as soon as I am not busy working and doing research (in the interest of participating in the thread rather than just posting the OP).

[fgalkin]

Pimping my own work. The Religious Right and cesnorship.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[DPDarkPrimus]

If you're trying to be very broad in scope, make sure to cover the Comic Code Authority.

[Adrian Laguna]

Thank you fgalking, it is most interesting

IF A MOD SEES THIS: Could you please change the title of this thread? The current one is rather inadequate. "Your Opinion on the Censorship of Books" would be much better. Thx

I will contribute my personal opinion and insights into the subject will be forthcoming as soon as I am not busy working and doing research (in the interest of participating in the thread rather than just posting the OP).

While I may agree to certain kinds of censorship in some cases, in reguards to books I am firmly oposed to any kind of censorship other than a parent or guardian telling their child, "No, you may not look at this." In the cases of libraries and book stores, it is my opinion that books every kind of book be made available to those that want them. Even if a racist fucktard wishes to publish a book advocating the disembowelment and crucification of all Latinos, then by all means he can go ahead and publish his stupidity so that the public may have an easier time mocking his idiocity. Same goes for Holocaust deniars, conspiracy theorists and other such nutcases.

In reguards to children getting material that their parents don't want them to access. First off, a small child should not be left unsupervised anywhere in a library or book store. Older children that don't need constant supervision can be simply told to stick to the children and young adult sections. Pre-teens and above, if a parent thinks that a mere book will have more influence on their kid than they do, then either the parent has not done a proper job in raising the child, or is promoting an exeedingly stupid viewpoint. Even if a kid gets a hold of something objectionable, it's not the end of the fucking world. One can't shield a kid from the realities of the world forever without chaining them to the bedpost, that's life.

The extent of censorship that a library or book store may engage in, is not allowing kids below a certain age to check-out or buy certain material without parental permission. That I may agree to. Anything else only demostrates that the party promoting censorship is threatened by foreign ideas, and that is tantamount to an admission of defeat.

[Elfdart]

In many cases, censorship on the grounds of "indecency" is really just a cover for censoring the writings of those who have differing political views. H.L. Mencken was best known for his columns from Dayton during the Scopes Monkey Trial. But a lesser known, but equally important case was that of Carlo Tresca, the publisher of an Italian-language newspaper in New York.

Tresca was prosecuted and thrown in jail for running an ad for birth control (this was in the early 1920s). The real reason was because his paper had ridiculed Mussolini on a regular basis, going so far as to predict Il Douchebag would end up like Rienzi (he was on the money with that prediction!), and Mussolini had quite a bit of clout among the rich and powerful in the US. He had just concluded a contract with US Steel for huge sums of money and demanded the paper be shut down. The government agreed, the paper was closed and Tresca was jailed.

So I'm of the opinion that a lot of the censorship of "obscene" material is just an effort to silence political opponents. The trumped-up drug investigation of Hugh Hefner in the early 1970s is another example. Nixon appointed a commission to investigate "pornography", which according to the wowsers on the panel, included Playboy . Even that collection of prudes wouldn't endorse a crackdown. So the Justice Department went after Hefner and his magazine, groping for anything to charge him with.

Even for back then, Playboy was pretty tame. So why go after them? Because in addition to naked centerfolds, Hefner published essays from liberal-to-radical politicians, writers, artists, etc and Nixon was worried some of the teenagers might actually read the magazine after jerking off to Ms. October's pictures. Fifteen years later, Reagan appointed the Meese Commission to harass the magazine again and succeeded in getting most stores to quit selling it and similar magazines.

One hundred thirty years ago, Robert Ingersoll was prosecuted under the Comstock Act for selling Why Do Marsupials Propogate Their Kind?. a tract that ridiculed religion and promoted evolution.

So next time you see prudes attacking "obscene" books, magazines, movies, take a good look at their targets and you might find an ulterior motive.

[Cairber]

Do you remember the children's book "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown? Its first publishing was in 1947. The illustrator was Clement Hurd, and the book use to feature his picture holding a cigarette. Th edited the cigarette out not too long ago (much to his disapproval- I think he even has a web site about it.) Anyway, it is interesting how even pictures on flaps do not escape censorship in America.

[Oddysseus]

If you are interested in library positions you should be sure to look at the ALA's, American Library Associate, information on intellectual freedom.

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/intellectual.htm


Intellecual Freedom and Censorship Q&A

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/basics/intellectual.htm

- not that informative, but may have a use and may have good links at page botton