Censors Unleashed: America's Crusade Against Literature
The U.S. discards iconic works of art and literature
By Sabine Oelmann More Info Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Email Print Copy Link
Stepping into the future of 2025, the once- vocals nation of freedom now seemingly flips the page on liberty, banning books from classrooms and public libraries in multiple states. As the nation trembles under the autocratic regime of President Donald Trump, the question begs, what warrants this suppression of the written word?
Each whisper of discomfort, each murmur of inappropriateness, now demands the removal of literature from children's grasp. Fines that climb into the thousands await those who dare to defy. Such is the reality in 2025 America, a nation gripped by fear and governed by the narrow-minded and the bigoted.
According to PEN America, a writers' association, over 10,000 cases have been recorded in 29 states and 220 public school districts. Florida and Iowa lead the charge, imposing the most bans. These vetoed texts explore themes of race, sexuality, gender roles, and the nation's history, among others. Most of these books centering Black characters, LGBTQ+ characters, and women.
The Symptoms Of A Fascist Rule
Daniel Kehlmann, the bestselling author of "Measuring the World," describes the United States under Trump as no longer an unfounded exaggeration. Kehlmann, who resides in Berlin and New York, shares a frightening comparison, "Life in America was always asymmetrical: If you were black, you lived in a police state where you were constantly afraid of being shot if the police stopped you in your car. If you were white, you didn't have this problem." Now, Kehlmann adds, people from South America are hunted with a deep racist hate energy.
America, the symbol of the free world, has plummeted into an abyss of censorship, stripping its citizens of their fundamental right to unrestricted education and self-expression.
Silencing The Voices Of Our Past
Organizations such as PEN America and the American Library Association tirelessly strive to combat this book banning epidemic, hoping to lift these unsilenced tomes from their shackles. Presently, amid others, the following books remain on the list of banned books:
The Handmaid's Tale - The Testimony of Offred
This chilling narrative by Margaret Atwood, published in 1985, showcases a dystopian United States plagued by radioactive, chemical, and bacterial contamination leading to widespread infertility. After a coup by a Christian fundamentalist group, the president and Congress are murdered, the constitution is suspended, and a theocratic state rules. Women are stripped of their rights, forced to submit to men, and compelled to serve as child-bearers. Through the eyes of Offred, a handmaid, readers are exposed to the horrors of this new world.
Animal Farm - Farm of the Animals
Originally published by George Orwell in 1945, this fable tells the story of animals on an English farm who revolt against their human master. Despite initial success, the pigs, who take over the leadership, establish a dictatorship that belies the very values they fought for.
1984
Also authored by George Orwell, "1984" is another dystopian novel set in a totalitarian surveillance state. Winston, a simple member of a dictatorial ruling party, rebels against the system by seeking the truth about the past hidden by the party. As a result, Winston finds himself at the mercy of the system, captured, tortured, and brainwashed.
The List Expands
Anne Frank's diary has also been added to the list of banned books, inhibiting the spread of knowledge about the holocaust. As with Frank's work, other timeless classics, such as "The Hunger Games," "The Fault in Our Stars," and "To Kill a Mockingbird," face a similar fate, their stories now off-limits to young readers.
The Art Of Repression
The Trump administration shows no signs of relenting in its assault on freedom of thought and artistic expression. This new era of book-burning, fueled by intolerance and fear, aims to stifle the voices of a generation as they struggle to find their place in a changing world. It is essential that we, the people, act to preserve the literary legacy upon which future generations will rely for knowledge, hope, and understanding.
In 2025, the USA, once a symbol of freedom, has been characterized by a censorship crusade, banning books, especially those dealing with themes of race, sexuality, gender roles, and the nation's history. This suppression of education and self-expression is a symptom of a fascist rule, as depicted by bestselling author Daniel Kehlmann.
The list of banned books includes classics such as Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale", George Orwell's "Animal Farm" and "1984", which offer crucial insights into dystopian societies, totalitarianism, and the loss of individual rights.
Recently, Anne Frank's diary, a powerful account of the Holocaust, has also been added to the list, preventing young readers from gaining crucial knowledge about history and its lessons. This ongoing assault on freedom of thought and artistic expression demands immediate action from us, the people, to preserve the literary legacy that future generations will rely upon for knowledge, hope, and understanding.
