Banning books, along with censorship in general, is a topic that is often argued about in modern society. Books can be challenged by anyone, for any reason. Most commonly, these reasons include LGBTQ+ content, sexual content, religious ideals and content that discusses racism, profanity and other heated topics.
Most challenged books do not end up banned, but according to the American Literary Association, about 82% to 97% of book challenges go unreported. There are quite a few well-known books that have been challenged, some may be surprising due to their relatively unassuming nature and being considered a childhood staple for many.
As of 2019, according to the American Literary Association (AMA), the second most challenged/banned book series is “Captain Underpants” by Dav Pilkey. Now, to those who have read these books, this may come as a surprise since the furthest it ever goes is toilet humor, which some people find offensive, even if it is relatively mild. However, apparently, quite a few adults have an issue with this.
“The Holy Bible” is nearly in the top fifty most-challenged books, for multiple reasons. Now, “The Holy Bible” and
Christianity in general have undergone several splits in belief, and have been changed dozens of times. Overall, “The Holy Bible” has sexual content, murder, violence and other topics scattered among the various stories and lessons that it teaches. So, for these reasons, it has been challenged many times.
While on the topic of religion, the “Harry Potter” series by J.K. Rowling is commonly challenged for being centered around topics such as witchcraft, magic, violence and racism. Most often, the series is challenged for the content that it mainly focuses on: witchcraft and magic. Different religious viewpoints vilify these practices and ideas. The series also contains multiple moments where characters are killed in fights with the Death Eaters, who are wizard terrorists and the main villains in “Harry Potter.”
When thinking about the “Harry Potter” series, racism probably does not come to mind. However, it discusses the difference between humans and “subhumans,” and multiple characters in the book, such as the Malfoys, treat “subhumans” like they are not intelligent, even though this classification of subhumans includes house-elves and centaurs, who are shown to be conscious and intelligent throughout the series.
While many people have different opinions on this topic, it will likely not be settled anywhere in the near future. To see the latest list of commonly challenged and banned books, check out this link. https://www.ala.org/bannedbooks/2019/
