I know this is not something I would typically post on the blog, but it is an important issue, one we will be fighting again and again in the New America in 2022, and it is a battle that cannot, in my mind, be lost if we wish to live in a free society.
If a Tennesse school board gets away with banning this book – Maus -by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Art Spiegelman, no text is safe. Let’s help some good people in Tennessee fight back. Let’s use the Internet for good, not hate and lies.
Ignorance and hatred often first show themselves in the banning of books. Here we are in the world’s first and greatest democracy.
The school board said it was removing the book because of its “unnecessary use of profanity and nudity and its depiction of violence and suicide” and that it was “simply too adult-oriented for use in our schools.”
What a sad blog to have to post. “To outlaw discomfort in the classroom,” said one historian, “is to outlaw good teaching.”
The book’s full title is Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History. Maus is the number one book on Amazon in Historical European Biographies. It was a best seller for years.
The Wall Street Journal called it “the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust,” The New Yorker called it “the first masterpiece in comic book history.”
This book is amazing, brave, original, much praised, and decorated.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Maus is that Spiegelman depicted the Nazis as cats and the Jews as mice (are nude mice too difficult for readers to bear?)
This use of animals instead of people was outrageous, in a way, and courageous. It was meant to be comforting. And it worked.
There are no human people in his book.
By using talking animals, Spiegelman permitted his readers, especially young ones, some emotional distance that makes it possible to follow a story as horrible as the holocaust.
By writing Maus, Spiegelman re-imagined the very idea of the comic and invented a new literary art form. The Washington Post called Maus “the greatest graphic novel was ever written,” 30 years after publication.
Maus is historic in more ways than one.
It is assigned in classrooms all over America.
It should never have been banned by ideologues, bigots, and fools who get themselves onto school boards and undermine the very purpose of education in a free society.
The book is the latest casualty in the “culture wars” politicians are waging against one another.
A group of writers, parents, and journalists has started a Go Fund Me project in Tennesse to permit all 289 public libraries in the state to have a copy of the book for free for people who wish to read it.
So far, the very new fund (started yesterday) has 565 dollars. They are seeking $11,000 and have a long way to go. I’ve sent $50. I hope others can help.
When capturing or teaching the holocaust, I wonder how it could be done without depicting violence, nudity, and suicide.
What is it, precisely, that we are protecting the students of Tennesse from? Victimized mice?
The book was banned in McMinn County, not far from Dayton, the site of the Scopes Monkey Trial.
It is undoubtedly true that the holocaust evokes memories of violence, suicide, and profanity. The holocaust is impossible to understand without disturbing anyone.
So is the Civil War or the American Revolution or the United States Congress. The school board of McCinn County, Tennesse has upsert a lot of people. Should they be banned?
The nudity mentioned is not of people having sex but of skeletal bodies of naked and starved and emaciated victims of the Nazis found in the liberated camps by U.S. and Russian soldiers.
But there are no people in Maus.
They are not sexually inappropriate images, meant to titillate, or sexual in any way. The book was inspired by the real images, the most powerful images ever found that depict the horror of the holocaust.
I should disclose that I lost several family members to the holocaust, which my grandparents escaped, giving me life. This is not just a Jewish issue.
Jews are not the only people who have suffered from genocide; it has occurred in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Genocide cannot be stopped if it is hidden from the future leaders and soldiers of the world.
It has threatened every kind of person.
Protecting our children from such sensitive and thoughtful work protects is protecting them from democracy, freedom, and justice. Dare I mention the truth?
The new criminals would ban a book like this without giving teachers, educators, or parents the right to decide. The politicians are the new enablers of genocide and cruelty.
A former colleague sent me a link to this gofundme to hope that my readers and I can help. I’ll sure try.
If you can contribute to this worthy cause, that would be great. If not, I understand, and thanks for considering it. I think we’ve done this before and we can help to do it again.
This fundraiser seems a little oddly conceived to me. As a former employee of one of the largest circulating libraries in the country (with 40 some branches), I learned that maintaining collections was a matter of balance taking into account demand, budget and shelf space. Essentially, every volume added meant another title retired. We usually had multiple copies of books while they were newly released, and reduced it’s numbers after initial interest in a new title waned. I wonder why there is an assumption that these libraries don’t have an appropriate number of copies or deisre to add more. I wonder why they are being sent books without appropriate library binding. I wonder why they are being sent state-wide when the ban impacts just one county school district. Were they even asked? I know, Jon, you’ve written about the burden and arrogance of dealing with spontaneous “gifts” that your readers insist you accept if you want them or not. This fundraiser puts these many libraries in a similar position.
A similar ban on a different title happened to an Idaho school district a few years back. A grassroots project was begun, not to collect funds, but to encourage donations of the actual book to this organization that would then give a copy of the book to any child of the school district who wished to own one on request. I sent a copy. Like Maus, it addressed very important themes. Approaching it this way addressed the need much more directly and effectively. Food for thought.
Jergen, I appreciate your thought. I’m afraid I can’t agree with you.
This isn’t my project; it’s a group of people fighting a brutal and uphill battle in the affected country. They have, I believe, been in touch with libraries all over the state and have decided this is the most effective way to respond to censorship and extremist politics.
There is a lot of symbolism here that may transcend library protocol. These are not professional librarians. They don’t understand the ins and outs of library culture as you do, and neither do I. It is not for me to tell them how to respond to this awful decision; I will support it in any way I’m asked. I appreciate your insights and civility, but I am entirely comfortable supporting their goals and response, whether it makes life easy for librarians or note.
I’ll certainly pass your message along, but this is not a conversation for me. I don’t think they are looking for a seminar on the procedure. If you’re not comfortable, you should certainly not contribute.
I’m supporting this gofundme for sure and will do everything I can to help them meet their goal. No one is being forced to donate a penny. People can read the gofundme profile and make their own decisions, as some are doing. The sponsors of the fundraiser just want to make sure anybody who wants to read the book can get it. I can’t speak to that, and I can’t speak to Tennesse geography or politics.
I’m not sure what you are speaking of when you talk about the burden and arrogance of spontaneous gifts; there is nothing arrogant here, although the response is passionate and very spontaneous, as it should be in my mind. This is politics, not library 101. They need to make some noise.
Yes Jergen it is arrogant and grandiose. They are letting their own interests take precedence above the children’s which should be determined by the parents, teacbers &school board. The age of the studenf is a big factor if i were a parent there or teacher or board member.
(Some kids are too young and are damaged by adults’ selfshness the children then have to break the normal Parent child bond, &reject the parent to break free. Parents who resenf their own parents kften exploit fheir own children like this)
thank you. I contributed & posted on my Facebook page. So grateful for you giving me a way to take action.
Thank you, Kim, I’m going to kep at it..hope they get their $11,000
When we reread MacBeth recently we changed our minds about its appropriateness In the 9th grade. It’s “too raw” as our parents said about Rifleman tv series years ago and would not let us watch it.
Can the youth read it after they graduate?
Children have too much anxiety esp teens today.
I think the parents should read the book, bring inside child psychologists if they think it’s that important and decide from there.
Trying to be politically correct is not Best for a child or a community. Esp from afar. See the sex trafficking case in No. England where law enforcement was afraid of being politically incorrect.
If it’s our grandchild, the answer is a quick NO!
Barbara, I hear you, the rule I apply to the survival of books is not whether they might disturb someone. Disturbing people is in part what teaching is all about.
This is what educators do, not politicians, and I very strongly object to the idea that accepting the banning of books is about political correctness. In America, the battle seems to be about politics and power, and censorship.
That’s my opinion. You are, of course, entitled to yours. I will be doing everything I can to support this gofundme project, if you feel otherwise, then, of course, there is no reason for you to contribute. I trust you will follow your own conscience.
If we banned every book that might be unpleasant or brought psychologists into every class assignment, we would be doing no service to democracy, freedom or learning. The best teachers I ever had disturbed me often. Those are the ones I learned from. I do not believe extremist politicians should be making this arbitrary, and to me, quite ignorant decisions.
P.S The Civil War the American Revolution and World War II were unpleasant and “raw.” Should they be banned? Or is it just books some politicians would like to see disappear because they make THEM uncomfortable?
I want my granddaughter to learn about the real world, and read what she and her parents and teachers choose for her to read. I want her to know what the holocaust was, as she lost people in her family to it. It is not for politicians to decide. It is not my decision in any way, I am not a teacher.
I have ” Maus” on order from Amazon and was going to include it with some books that I’ve been gathering to send to BMHS. One of the books I’m sending is a 3-vol. graphic novel about John R. Lewis. I’d already mentioned it to Mike T. who happens to be an admirer of JRL. Anyway, I will send “Maus” along to BM. (BTW, I saw your name on the donation list for the Go Fund Me page when I was trying to decide whether to donate that way or send to book already ordered to BM.)
P.S. Paris is my mentee.
Interesting how you soooo catastrooophize. WE ARE not talking SS book burning. You are talking in the abstract when you use “raw”: what are the precise details and how ol d is fhe child? Thats the question and The parents should decide. I had a Jewish friend in high school who dreamed regularly she was being raped by Hitler. Our high school did not teach the Holocaust except the broad brush. Even our dad and uncles protected us from it and they fought the bastards. We learned it from college and parents and uncles who went up Normandy Beach. They did not think it was good for a child to be faced with nazi horor stories details. Her parents talked about it obsessively to her i found out later. That was an expression of fheir grandiosity to put their interest above their child’s She resented them for it as an adult. The priority is to p rotect the child. Give all the money you want but some parents will rightfully block you. Thankfully.
Think this issue through, wbat are the issues, wbat are the priorities, stop knee jerking.
( You make so many logic errors and make false generalizations: try and think it thru. Study different types of fallacies:, would be something you could do a tutorial on.)
Barbara, I know how to express my opinions, but I don’t know how to catastrophize or study different types of fallacies, so I guess we just disagree if that isn’t too simple a construct. Logic errors and false generalizations (as opposed to genuine ones) on top of catastrophizing are too much for me to overcome.
I think children need to understand some horror stories in order to protect themselves and avoid them as they get older and help build the world. I would hate for my daughter or granddaughter to have to wait until she got to college to know what genocide or the holocaust was because it made you uncomfortable.
What do you think teachers and parents are for? Rubber stamps for your phobias and the sins of your uncles? My uncle went to Normandy and never said one word about it. Is that how we set educational policy, by what your relatives told you after the war?
How about we just disagree and leave it there without the agonizing and incomprehensible rhetoric? This is not a conversation, Barbara, this is just words flying through the ether. Best to you. I’ll be pushing for the gofundme to work to stop people like you from telling teachers and trained educators and people like me and my granddaughter what to read or think.
I have little patience for the idea that young people are too fragile to hear any truth, not matter how thoughtfully presented, and that we must protect them from the nature of life. This is not education to me, it sounds more like brainwashing. I trust teachers and educators to make these choices, that’s what they get paid for and if parents can’t handle that, they should home school or find private schools with like-minded people.
Sadly genocide has been practiced here on our soil as well
I grew up in a family where reading was valued. I remember when I was in 8th grade, and I was at the supermarket with my mother, when the mother of another student approached my mother. She had noticed that I had a copy of Mad Magazine, and wanted to know why my mother let me have “that” magazine. My mother pulled herself up to her full five foot tall height, and said: “At least she is reading!” My classmate’s mother walked away without further comment.
It’s not just about students reading a book some parents don’t like. A good teacher will use that “disturbing” book as a starting point to a spirited classroom discussion. In the process, ideas will be shared, minds will open and expand, and the students will have a clearer understanding of the contents and how we can relate to it now. Isn’t that the point of reading it?
Yes, thank you, that is what it’s about, I believe..
Just wanted to let you know that Nirvana Comic Store in Knoxville is providing a copy of Maus to any middle and higher school student that requests a copy. Their Facebook post garnered hundreds of responses from people offering to purchase the books. They also started a go fund me and have raised $77,000. My daughter and 7 and 9 year old grandsons shop at Nirvana and read age appropriate comics and graphic novels. I’m sure when they are older my daughter will read Maus with them and answer their questions. Ray Bradbury is turning over in his grave.
Great to hear, Deb thanks..
Deb, you kids and grandkids are very lucky to have you in their lives..blessings to you..