Who do we silence when we ban a book?

This year, Banned Books Week (September 22–28) aims to bring attention to this question with the theme: "Censorship Leaves Us in the Dark. Keep the Light On," emphasizing that banning books silences challenging, yet necessary, discussions. A recent Top Ten Most Challenged Books list, released yearly by the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, includes perhaps one of the most iconic books in American literature, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960). The use of this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee has been challenged in the classroom and library for violence and racial slurs. However, its exploration of the mentality behind racism and its consequences in Jim Crow Alabama make this an invaluable work to explore American history. The plot's similarities with events unfolding...