More than 10,000 books were banned in public schools in America during the 2023-2024 school year. These books included novels written by people of color, women and LGBTQ+ authors. These bans are not just being placed on books in public schools, however. In 2023, there was a 92% increase in books that were banned from public libraries across the country, a concentrated and concerted effort to censor stories that discuss topics that further inclusion and equity.
The bans target books that educate readers about racism, the LGBTQ+ community, feminism and history. Red states are relentlessly targeting books that discuss government oppression like Animal Farm, The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984. Florida has the highest number of book bans, with 4,561 bans being enacted in over 30 different school districts.
As the number of bans enforced in the United States continues to increase, the right-wing politicians at the root of the censorship movement have begun to deny their involvement, calling book banning a “hoax.” This outright denial of book banning is an incredibly dangerous way to silently and slowly censor the stories that influenced generations of Americans. Soon after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the U.S. Department of Education released a statement alleging that they were ending “Biden’s Book Ban Hoax,” essentially allowing school districts across the country to ban any book without due process.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) also announced in Jan. 2025 that they would no longer employ the “book ban coordinator” appointed by Biden in 2023. With the role of training and administering guidance regarding the impact of book bans, the coordinator advised school districts of their potential violation against students’ federal civil rights laws according to CBS News. As the bans most often target subjects such as LGBTQ+ or racial awareness related topics, the coordinator also advised districts of the potential hostility that could arise against students within marginalized communities.
The slew of quiet bannings taking place across the United States is a movement that eerily resembles the extensive censorship that took place in Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union and communist China. Beginning on May 10, 1933, extensive book burning took place in Nazi Germany, targeting novels discussing women’s rights and liberal ideas. Censorship in the Soviet Union banned books about the LGBTQ+ community and government resistance. Bans in communist China included stories about international culture. Sound familiar?
History does not always repeat itself, however, it often rhymes. As history has proven, subtle censorship is most effective, and the book bans taking place in America are becoming increasingly elusive. When politicians like Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump blatantly lie to the American public and call book banning a hoax, every single student, adult and child in the United States becomes a victim of censorship.
Book banning is not a hoax. It’s a quiet, organized, dangerous right-wing effort to censor and silence stories that promote inclusion and equity. It’s not something to be silent about. As students, it is our responsibility to advocate for our education, and the education of those who will come after us. It’s time to speak out and fight for the preservation of the books that shaped generations.
For many young students throughout the nation, book banning will limit the representation of family life and identity differences that they would not find elsewhere. In 2022, 36 states introduced educational gag bills to restrict teaching topics related to race, gender, American history and LGBTQ+ identities according to Pen America. Striving to eliminate ideas of diversity and inclusion, the bans educate students with the idea that only certain groups are socially acceptable.
For students without diverse representation in their own lives, the absence of these books will cause them to lose the chance to understand the perspectives of many of their fellow students. Without the next generations being given the chance to understand different backgrounds, the stigma against minority groups will grow and the tolerance for them will lessen.
The banning of books about minority groups may also cause mental health issues. In 2022, the Trevor Project found that LGBTQ members who have lost a social support system were more likely to consider or attempt suicide. When books relating to their experience are banned, a part of their literacy support system is removed and other students in their schools are less likely to support them.
As librarians, educators and administrators across the country fight book banning, it is essential that we as students take a stand as well. America is supposed to be the land of the free, but as efforts to censor and silence diverse voices continue, our country only strays further from its ideals.
Students must speak out against book bans online and at their schools. They must start unifying and petitioning against these unjust decisions and contact their local government officials of their concerns. Together we can stand against oppression and censorship and protect future generations’ freedoms.
