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| For centuries, books have been banned
suppressed, and censored because of political, religious, sexual
and social reasons. There are many justifications offered, but at
root the motivation is always the same. So-called obscene materials
are attacked because of a fear that they will corrupt morality or
disrupt social order. Today, American citizens are protected from
censorship through the First Amendment, which forbids Congress to
restrict freedom of religion, speech, the press, and right of petition
(Haight 121). However, the threat of censorship continues in both
the public and private sectors, where materials are attacked at
city, county and state government levels (Leanoard 30). |
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Libraries (both public and school) are often pressured not to
acquire certain works, and self-censorship among these individuals
is common (Karolides xi). Much censorship also occurs through the
purely private intervention of community organizations taking matters
into their own hands through systematic book removal, blacklisting,
protests, boycotts and other means (Karolides xi). While the line
separating so-called appropriate from the inappropriate literature
has moved, the line is still being drawn. America continues to struggle
with the notion that our government, or our society in some form,
can set a national standard of decency. |
| The History of censorship is one of inhumanity;
work unfinished, withheld, deleted and destroyed. But it is also
a history of rebellion, of defiance in the face of those who wish
to stifle any voice unlike their own. The First Amendment is not
self-enforcing; the right to speak, read, and think freely exists
only if we claim it. The challenge of new ideas diminishes the toughness
and resilience of our society and subverts the very foundations
this country was built upon. |
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