A statement of defiance
We Will Not Ban Books in America
Donald Trump, the governors of conservative states, and the political forces of Christian nationalism are waging war on the American mind. We refuse to be silent.
What Is Happening
Across the United States, a coordinated political campaign is removing books from school libraries and public shelves. The books being targeted address race, gender, sexuality, history, religion, and the full complexity of the human experience. They are being removed not because they are harmful — but because they are honest.
This is not a local dispute about community standards. It is a national political movement, driven from the top, with the explicit goal of controlling what American children are permitted to think, read, and know.
According to PEN America, thousands of book bans have been recorded across the United States in recent years. The pace is accelerating. The targets are expanding. And the silence of institutions that should be defending intellectual freedom is deafening.
Who Is Responsible
Donald Trump
As president, Trump has used the full weight of the federal government to attack public education, defund libraries, and empower the political forces behind book banning. His administration has made the suppression of ideas a policy priority.
Conservative State Governors
Governors in Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Missouri, and across the conservative South have signed legislation enabling and encouraging book removal from public schools and libraries. They have turned censorship into a campaign platform.
Christian Nationalist Organizations
Groups like Moms for Liberty and similar organizations have coordinated systematic campaigns to challenge books in school districts across the country, targeting titles that address race, LGBTQ+ identity, and any history that complicates a sanitized national narrative.
Compliant School Boards
Elected and appointed school boards, under political pressure and legal threat, have removed books preemptively — not because they found them harmful, but because they feared the political cost of defending them.
What Is at Stake
The right to read
Every American child has the right to access books in their school library. That right is being systematically dismantled by political actors who have decided that some ideas are too dangerous for young people to encounter.
Critical thinking
A democracy cannot function without citizens capable of critical thought. Book banning is not incidental to authoritarianism — it is its foundation. You cannot govern a thinking people. You must first stop them from thinking.
The historical record
The books being banned include histories of slavery, the Holocaust, the civil rights movement, and the lived experiences of marginalized Americans. Banning them does not change what happened. It simply ensures that the next generation will not know.
The teachers and librarians
Educators and librarians across the country are being threatened, investigated, and fired for defending books. The chilling effect on the profession is already severe. The best teachers are leaving. The most honest books are disappearing.
Some of the Books Being Banned
These are not obscure titles. They are among the most honored works in American literature and education.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee
Stated reason: Racial language in historical context; makes students 'uncomfortable'
The Bluest Eye
Toni Morrison
Stated reason: Sexual content; depictions of racism and trauma
The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
Stated reason: Sexual violence; depictions of war and religious extremism
1984
George Orwell
Stated reason: Sexual content; political themes deemed 'pro-communist'
The Color Purple
Alice Walker
Stated reason: Sexual content; depictions of abuse and racism
Beloved
Toni Morrison
Stated reason: Graphic depictions of slavery; sexual content
The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood
Stated reason: Sexual content; anti-religious themes
Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury
Stated reason: Irony: a novel about book burning — banned for 'obscene language'
Our Defiance
This page exists as a permanent act of defiance against every politician, school board, and organization that has moved to suppress books in America.
We name what is happening: it is censorship. It is the deliberate suppression of ideas by those who fear an educated, empathetic, and critically thinking citizenry. It is the oldest tool of authoritarian control, and it is being deployed in the United States of America in the twenty-first century.
We will not be silent. We will not comply. We will read the banned books, teach the banned books, and defend the right of every American — child and adult — to encounter the full complexity of the human experience in print.
Those who ban books do not protect children. They produce citizens incapable of recognizing tyranny when it arrives — because they have never been permitted to read about it.
— Dr. Sabri G. Bebawi