Established in 2005 by the United Nations General Assembly, International Holocaust Remembrance Day turns our eyes toward the devastating truths of Nazi Germany. This terrifying piece of world history reminds us of the atrocities humanity is capable of and should inspire us to ensure it never happens again. Yet, some people would rather we blind ourselves to these horrors that occurred less than a century ago.
Pulitzer-Winning Graphic Novel Banned by Tennessee School District
Maus, a graphic novel by Art Spiegelman, is based on the life of Spiegelman’s father, a Holocaust survivor. Symbolically depicted as mice, the Holocaust victims in this book were apparently too profane for the members of a Tennessee county school board. So, in a 10-to-0 vote, Maus was banned from the district’s middle school curriculum. The censorship of historical events, no matter how horrific, is frightening, and similar decisions are being made daily in school districts throughout the US. We need to do everything in our power to let the truth be heard, read, and seen so the sins of our past will not be repeated in the future.
The irony of this book being banned so close to this day could not go unacknowledged.
Why Are We Talking About This?
You may be asking yourself, why is Electric Bricks, a website and digital marketing company, bringing this up? For a lot of reasons. But the fundamental answers are:
- We are content creators – not only for ourselves, but for our clients – and this relates directly to content and content creation
- If we allow the banning of books and ideas to continue, how could that affect our clients’, our company’s, and our employees’ ability to express themselves in the future?
- We do not condone censorship in any form (especially in the context of ignoring or rewriting history) unless it threatens the life or liberty of others (i.e. yelling “fire” in a crowded movie theater when there is no fire)
The point is, some topics (especially historical ones) can be uncomfortable. But banning a book (or an idea) because it makes us uncomfortable is not and should never be acceptable. You may disagree. And you may feel compelled to write that somewhere, perhaps on your own blog. Please do. We will always support your right to do so.