By Meghan McKenna
The Central York School District in York, Pennsylvania recently banned several books within the book series Girls Who Code, which worked in collaboration with the “Girls Who Code,” a non-profit organization to help young girls find interest in the male-dominated field of computer science. Previously, the school district made national headlines in 2020 for banning what was defined as “diverse resource materials,” targeting any teaching or literature that discussed racism, sexism, and homophobia. While Jane Johnson, the former district board president, said, “what we are attempting to do is balance legitimate academic freedom with what could be literature/materials that are too activist in nature,” the movement to ban books has been heavily criticized by educators and librarians alike, arguing diversity and inclusivity should not be viewed as an agenda, but rather a move into modern society. In addition, the Girls Who Code author spoke in an interview with Insider saying, “This is about controlling women and it starts with controlling our girls and what info they have access to.” This story has come with the recent rise of extreme right-wing book bans nationwide; some of the most popular novels have included To Kill A Mockingbird, The Hate U Give, and The Handmaid's Tale. Reportedly, Pennsylvania has reached “the second largest number of attempts to ban books that focus on racism, diversity, and equity.”
However, the rise in book bans should come as no surprise to those who have noticed recent dystopian trends that mark the fall of the most progressive time period in modern American history. Similarly to the very novels groups like “Moms For Liberty” have advocated against, the banning and destruction of literature begins the indoctrination into extreme ideologies that prohibit free thought for the masses. Whilst the indoctrination of women in STEM seems unfathomable to those who have not seen a time of women’s rights, the Nazi regime should admonish those who can recollect a pre-women’s rights era. Has the world forgotten a Germany in which publicly burning books by Ernest Hemingway was looked at as German patriotism? Has “never forget” caused us to forget our own susceptibility to nationalist policies? If we can not fathom a world where women can code, and people of color can speak, we must want to believe in a world where the Thought Police desire total subordination.
Whether we believe in such a dystopia existing for the future timeline, the dystopia has existed and currently remains alive at the heart of twisted words. Examine modern Iran, for example (a country that the likes of former president Donald Trump has called “medieval”) , which bases their law on the Qur’an, that recently made global headlines for the brutal death of Mahsa Amini by the Morality Police. The root cause of her arrest was attributed to her lack of “modest clothing,” yet when delving deeper into the contention, we must remember that the true conflict arises with power structures, specifically gender dynamics. Shockingly, some members of the United States have observed and diligently selected rhetoric that promotes such values but chose another religious institution that the white Evangelical Christian majority would generally accept. . Despite the overwhelming Islamophobia spewed at Middle Eastern countries for regimes that do not align with the Islamic faith, it has become more prevalent to those with watchful eyes that instead of offering support, we have been taking notes. Christian nationalism and extreme far-right oratory has propagated the idea of indoctrination through education rather than radical ideas such as women having as high of intellect as men or people of color being just as capable as their white counterparts. The War on Women is a widespread pandemic, an enigma in a contemporary context, with the first battle being militarized via education restriction.
George Orwell’s 1984 predicted the future world to an almost terrifyingly accurate degree, a world of misinformation and surveillance, but more importantly, a world of disinformation. Through a prism, a world of color is sprawled in an array of magnificent medlies, but through a wall, light will never reach the other side of the barricading blocks. When one deliberately builds barriers, whether that be through media, economic policies, or education, one will never be in awe of the diversification of brilliant, bright ideas. Furthermore, the meticulous decision to eradicate literature built on diversity in order to maintain archaic power structures endangers the lives of the oppressed, the minorities, and the people who clash against fierce and authoritative militias every day just by existing. There has yet to be a dystopian novel that does not acknowledge its own power through themes of censorship and educational policies. Whether that be the careful cultivation of egotistic writers or well-educated authors is frivolous when we may look up from our own devices to see a world of disinformation. I, for one, do not wish to wear red cloaks and whisper “blessed be the fruit” or call my local fireman for the Bible. However, I do hope for a future where my children are able to read literature openly in educational institutions without fear that tomorrow it will be ripped from their virtuous hands.
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