I’ve been (woefully) aware of the rampant book bans being pushed by conservatives, but up until now I’ve been (blissfully) ignorant of the actual numbers. This week the American Library Association released data that 1,915 book titles were challenged or censored in 2023 through August, making it a 20% increase from last year. It’s become so pernicious that Biden has created a new position in the Dept of Education to address the bans. And in a bit of brilliance, in June Illinois became the first state to ban book bans. This is where we are, folks. While right-wing politicians are desperate to bring us back to Pleasantville, artists are fighting back to keep us in color. An open letter condemning the spate of book bans sweeping the nation has now garnered almost 200 signatures from celebrities in creative arts:

Who: Nearly 200 top actors, musicians and authors denounced the recent wave of right-wing book bans in an open letter Tuesday. Ariana Grande, Guillermo del Toro and Gabrielle Union were among 195 entertainers and writers to sign their names to the letter, part of an effort spearheaded by former “Reading Rainbow” host LeVar Burton and the liberal advocacy group MoveOn. … The effort reportedly started collecting signatures this summer and includes names like Mark Ruffalo, Billy Porter, Chelsea Handler, John Leguizamo, Constance Wu, Christie Brinkley, Idina Menzel, Andy Cohen, Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts and Sharon Stone.

What: The letter argues that this “restrictive behavior” is both “antithetical to free speech and expression” and “has a chilling effect on the creative field.” It further says the government has no right to “dictate” what people can create or consume. “We cannot stress enough how these censorious efforts will not end with book bans,” the letter reads. “It’s only a matter of time before regressive, suppressive ideologues will shift their focus toward other forms of art and entertainment. … We refuse to remain silent as one creative field is subjected to oppressive bans,” the letter said. “As artists, we must band together, because a threat to one form of art is a threat to us all. … There is power in artistic freedom, and we refuse to allow draconian politicians to take that from us.”

Bad politicians: While the letter itself doesn’t name specific politicians, the website that introduces it goes even further: “Far-right politicians like Ron DeSantis are championing draconian laws to ban books and the teaching of accurate multicultural American history in favor of upholding a homophobic, transphobic, and white supremacist vision of our nation.” … The ideologues include Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R), who championed a new law forbidding instruction on gender or sexual orientation, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) — who approved course materials that teach enslaved Black people gained a “personal benefit” from slavery.

Bad statistics: The American Library Association reported in March that bans and restrictions at schools and libraries are continuing to surge, with more than 1,200 challenges in 2022, nearly double the prior record of 729 in 2021. Another institution found even more than that. Nonprofit research organization PEN America — which counts more than 7,500 novelists, journalists and other literary professionals as members — reportedly identified more than 4,000 book challenges and bans in school districts since June 2021.

LeVar Burton gets the last word: “It’s embarrassing that we are banning books in this country, in this culture, in this day and age,” Burton told The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday. “And it’s dangerous that a handful of individuals are deciding that any book with Black and queer people is divisive.”

[From HuffPost]

This is horrifying. I went to a Jewish day school growing up, so I know I had more lessons on and exposure to the Holocaust than in typical elementary curriculums. The links are chilling to me. Banning books is where it starts, because the less you know the easier you are to control. It’s perhaps a lowbrow reference, but I have Sean Connery’s voice stuck in my head from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, when he says to the Nazis “goose-stepping morons like yourself should try reading books instead of burning them!” I nominate ‘goose-stepper’ as DeSantis’s next nickname. Vote them OUT.