Banning Which Books

While publishers can and do print anything these days without much fear of censorship, the question of what kind of books schoolchildren should be permitted to read arouses as much rancor and righteousness as ever. Some prudes are shocked that students should be exposed to the earthy bawdiness of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Negroes protest the "Uncle Tomism" of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn; reactionaries worry about left-wing interpretations in history texts. According to a recent survey by the National Education Association, 334 books on class reading lists or in school libraries were singled out for criticism last year. Surprisingly, many of the books were condemned by teachers themselves.

The book drawing the most fire was a history text titled Land of the Free, co-authored by U.C.L.A.'s John W. Caughey, Harvard's Ernest R. May and Chicago's John Hope Franklin, a Negro. A realistic and often unflattering appraisal of American history, Land of the Free, among other judgments, says that slaves were not happy darkies, that labor and civil rights groups made gains only by overcoming "savage resistance," and that the Boston Tea Party was a "mob scene." Teachers, parents and community groups in 45 different U.S. school districts attacked the book. In Oregon, irate citizens complained that the book overemphasized Negroes. A group called "Californians Against Land of the Free" cranked out a 25-minute film strip assailing it as part of the "Communist conspiracy."

In most cases, Land of the Free was retained by the schools as suitable for children's eyes, although 19% of all criticized books were ultimately banned. Among other works most frequently railed against, according to the N.E.A. hate list: Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Orwell's 1984, Huxley's Brave New World, Griffin's Black Like Me, and Golding's Lord of the Flies.

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