FALL 2014

NUMBER 121
NCAC BOARD
Jon Anderson
Michael Bamberger
Joan Bertin
Judy Blume
Susan Clare
Eric M. Freedman
Martha Gershun
Robie Harris
Phil Harvey
Michael Jacobs
Chris Peterson
Larry Siems
Emily Whitfield
COUNCIL
OF ADVISORS
Amy Adler
Helene Atwan
Julian Bond
Rev. John Harris Burt
James Cromwell
Norman Dorsen
Gail Edwin
Chris Finan
Frances FitzGerald
Rev. Carl E. Flemister
Danny Goldberg
Victor Gotbaum
Franklyn S. Haiman
Marjorie Heins
David Henry Hwang
George Kannar
Rhoda H. Karpatkin
Tony Kushner
Sylvia A. Law
Pamela A. Mann
Gail Markels
Jay Mazur
Joyce D. Miller
Victor Navasky
Aryeh Neier
Robert M. ONeil
Pat Scales
Stanley K. Sheinbaum
Nadine Strossen
Cleo Wilson
Susan N. Wilson
T H E N A T I O N A L C O A L I T I O N A G A I N S T C E N S O R S H I P N E W S L E T T E R
N C A C n e e d s y o u r s u p p o r t . D o n a t e n o w a t w w w . n c a c . o r g
the familiar, question their views, and encounter human
experience in all its variety. Books, film, and art all have the
potential to do this, and to touch us deeply in the process.
Indeed, their value may sometimes lie in their ability to
unsettle and even distress. And if absurdist images of
men in dolphin costumes are vulnerable to censorship,
how can we begin to draw a line between what may offend
someone and what could actually prompt post-traumatic
flashbacks?
One may argue that trigger warnings are merely
informational, alerting students to
challenging material. In practice,
however, trigger warnings pre-
judge content, signal expected
reactions, and invite (self)
censorship. Even in a policy, like
Oberlins, which only suggests
that faculty make triggering
material optional, the message
is: best avoid it. Professors who
fear that they will be accused of
insensitivity (or worse) will be
reluctant to select material that
might trigger disturbing thoughts
and will gravitate towards safer,
less challenging content. As a
recent AAUP statement observes, the demand for trigger
warnings is infantilizing and anti-intellectual,makes
comfort a higher priority than intellectual engagement,
[and] creates a repressive, chilly climate for critical thinking
in the classroom.
The driving concept is that a college campus should be
a safe space. While we can all agree that certain acts
(discrimination, violence) have no place on campus, it is
quite another matter to ban unsettling ideas. Or historical
material, which is blind to the sensitivities of the present.
Or films about genital mutilation. Or revelations of our
ancestors ugly prejudices. Or cutting satire, gallows humor,
parody, raunchy dolphins and paunchy sleepwalkers. All
of these could be unsettling, but they also offer insights
into ourselves and the world we inhabit. Perhaps todays
students will dramatically transform this world, but not if
they are shielded from its uncomfortable realities.
Google it and you may think its true. While the myth thrives
that dolphins have a fetish for forced copulation outside
of their own tribe, it also remains a fact that if youre not
deep sea diving in search of cetacean mammal love, you
will be safe from dolphin rape. Students at the School of
Visual Arts in New York, however, demanded the removal
of Dolphin Rape Cave, a staged photograph satirizing the
popular internet meme, claiming the image could serve as
a trigger for sexual assault victims. The incident recalls a
similar one at Wellesley, where last winter students used the
same reasoning in demanding the removal of a sculpture
of a middle-aged sleepwalker in
his underwear.
Trigger warnings are popping
up at universities all over the
country. At Oberlin last year,
faculty were advised to provide
trigger warnings for anything that
might cause trauma including
racism, classism, sexism,
heterosexism, cissexism, ableism,
and other issues of privilege and
oppression. The policy (currently
tabled pending review) further
advised professors to [r]emove
triggering material when it does not
contribute directly to the course learning goals. Otherwise,
it recommended a warning like this one: Chinua Achebes
Things Fall Apart is a triumph of literature that everyone in
the world should read. However, it may trigger readers who
have experienced racism, colonialism, religious persecution,
violence, suicide, and more.
Those who lobby for trigger warnings express concern
for students who would be inordinately affected by some
material. By couching their request in the language of
trauma, they see themselves as validating the painful
experience of vulnerable groups, whose experience is not
always recognized or acknowledged.
Of course students diagnosed with PTSD deserve treatment
and support. But for the rest, emotional discomfort can
be an important part of the educational process, which
challenges students to expand their knowledge beyond
Trigger Warning: Raunchy Dolphins and Paunchy Sleepwalkers
C E N S O R S H I P N E W S
NCAC PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS
Actors Equity Association
American Association of School Administrators
American Association of University Professors
American Association of University Women
American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression
American Civil Liberties Union
American Ethical Union
American Federation of Teachers
American Jewish Committee
American Library Association
American Literary Translators Association
American Orthopsychiatric Association
American Society of Journalists & Authors
Americans United for Separation of Church & State
Association of American Publishers
Authors Guild
Catholics for Choice
Childrens Literature Association
College Art Association
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
The Creative Coalition
Directors Guild of America
The Dramatists Guild of America
Dramatists Legal Defense Fund
Educational Book & Media Association
First Amendment Lawyers Association
International Reading Association
Lambda Legal
Modern Language Association
National Center for Science Education
National Communication Association
National Council for the Social Studies
National Council of the Churches
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of Teachers of English
National Education Association
National Youth Rights Association
The Newspaper Guild/CWA
PEN American Center
People For the American Way
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Project Censored
SAG-AFTRA
Sexuality Information & Education Council of the U.S.
Society of Childrens Book Writers & Illustrators
Speech Communication Association
Student Press Law Center
Union for Reform Judaism
Union of Democratic Intellectuals
Unitarian Universalist Association
United Church of Christ, Office of Communication
United Methodist Church, United Methodist Communications
Womens American ORT
Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance
Writers Guild of America, East
Writers Guild of America, West
NATIONAL COALITION AGAINST CENSORSHIP
Joan E. Bertin, Executive Director
Andy DiBella, Development Director
Svetlana Mintcheva, Programs Director
Dara Plath, Administrative Assistant
Barbara Pyles, Business Manager
Mary Reinke, Accounting
Mayukh Sen, YFEP Program Associate
Cynthia Villani, Librarian
Censorship News Founding Editor: Roz Udow (1926-2006)
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e-mail: ncac@ncac.org, web: www.ncac.org
Copyright 2014 National Coalition Against Censorship
Permission is granted to reprint please credit NCAC.
NCAC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
In The Courts
Supreme Court Decisions Divide
Last term, the Supreme Court issued two
First Amendment decisions that met with
decidedly mixed reactions among civil
libertarians.
In McCutcheon v. FEC, the Supreme Court
struck down the aggregate limits on individual
contributions to all political candidates
and parties. The Court held 5 - 4 that the
Government may not penalize an individual
for robustly exercis[ing] his First
Amendment rights by making multiple
large contributions. Prominent First
Amendment lawyer, Floyd Abrams,
agrees, saying that the best protection
for democracy is more rather
than less speech, while First
Amendment scholar Geoffrey
Stone demurs, objecting
that the First Amendment
does not grant the
wealthy the right to
buy a disproportionate
influence in
American politics.
First Amendment lawyer
Paul Smith observes that the Court
itself remains badly divided
between Justices who read the First
Amendment to require a hands-
off approach to all but the most quid pro
quo forms of corruptionand Justices who
believe the First Amendment allows, indeed
encourages, regulation of contributions
and expenditures that they believe distort
the marketplace of ideas in the campaign
realm.
The same division is reflected in current
and former ranks of the ACLU. While
the ACLU generally opposes efforts to
regulate money in politics, former ACLU
officials argue that the idea that the First
Amendment is a rigid deregulatory strait
jacketthreatens the integrity of American
democracy.
The disagreement is thus profoundly
important, revealing competing visions
of the role of the First Amendment in a
democratic system from sources deeply
committed to both free speech and
democracy.
Observers also had mixed reactions to
McCullen v. Coakley, which struck down a
35 foot buffer zone to protect patients
at abortion clinics from harassment by
anti-abortion protesters. The Court voted
unanimously to strike the law, but court-
watchers are divided: does the decision
reflect a pattern of free speech for me
but not for thee since buffer zones
are reasonable at polling places and the
Democratic convention, but not for women
seeking intimate medical care? Or does it
remind us that Your right to speak is not
contingent on my willingness to hear you, or
on my emotional fortitude?
Read a collection of the
opinions at www.ncac.org/blog/
bufferzones.
As these debates suggest, belief
in the theory and importance of
the First Amendment doesnt
always yield agreement on its
application to specific facts and
situations, even as it insures our
ability to disagree about it.
More Hard Facts
Anthony Elonis posted disturbingly
violent thoughts about his
estranged wife on Facebook and
was convicted under a federal
law prohibiting transmission of
messages containing any threat to
kidnap or injure another. In Elonis v. US, the
Supreme Court will decide whether the First
Amendment protects Eloniss online speech
unless it can be proven that he truly intended
to place his wife in fear for her safety.
NCAC joined the ACLU and other free
speech organizations on a friend-of-
the-court brief in support of the intent
requirement, noting that a significant
amount of speech on political, social and
other issues occurs online, and it is often
abbreviated, idiosyncratic, decontextualized,
and ambiguous [and thus] susceptible to
multiple interpretations. Proof of intent
is essential to protect such speech, even
if crude or ill-considered, to preserve
uninhibited, robust and wide-open public
discussion. This doesnt mean online threats
get a free pass. Rather, a properly charged
jury might or might not have concluded
that [the comments] constituted a threat in
context. This concession to the difficulties
reconciling fact and theory may itself
engender controversy.
The Metropolitan Opera cancelled a global
livestream of The Death of Klinghoffer,
which touches upon political issues in
the Middle East. NCAC led seven national
and international arts and human rights
groups in a statement of opposition:
Cultural institutions can play a crucial
role in promoting understanding and
peaceful dialogue in a world of conflict,
but only if they stand up to pressure
groups from all sides.
A mural commissioned by The
University of Chicago Arts and Public
Life initiative (founded by Theaster
Gates) was whitewashed in July, soon
after it was created, because local
Washington Park residents considered
it offensive and claimed it contained
negative images.
While on an exchange program in Beijing,
China, a high school student wrote
phrases like Democracy is for cool kids
when invited by his Chinese peers to pen
comments and contact information in
their notebooks. The host school was
offended; when the student returned to
C E N S O R S H I P N E W S
V I E W S O N T H E N E W S F R O M T H E E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R
Education is not the playing field for personal, political, or
religious ideologies
So wrote Hannah Lowe, a 10th grade student in Cape Helopen High
School (Delaware), after the school board removed The Miseducation
of Cameron Post, emily danforths lesbian coming of age novel, from
the list of summer reading options. Ms. Lowe won an essay contest
sponsored by NCAC to give voice to students, whose views were
largely ignored during the book censorship debate that roiled their
community all summer. The contest asked students to write what they
thought school board members should know about the book before
deciding whether it should be taken off the list.
On more than one occasion this summer, we were reminded of Mark
Twains famous commentIn the first place God made idiots. This
was for practice. Then he made School Boardsbut never more
than when we learned that the Cape Henlopen school board ignored
its own procedures and state open meetings law, voted to remove
the book without reading it, and has been, to put it politely, less than
forthcoming in explaining the events leading up to its actions.
Most school board members genuinely want their schools to
provide a high quality education, but they may be hampered by
a misunderstanding of their role and legal responsibilities, or the
fact that they lack a background in education.
Thats why we urge boards to listen to educators and other
professionals who have experience preparing young people
intellectually and emotionally for the next grade or stage in life. Cape
Henlopen school officials did this when they adopted the Delaware
Library Associations list of 10 recommended books for summer reading.
Similarly, a district in Pennsylvania selected The Handmaids Tale, endorsed
by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, for a 12th grade summer
reading assignment. But both districts got derailed by boards that opted
to accommodate individuals who objected to the books.
By doing so, they privileged the political, moral, and/or religious beliefs
of those who objected to the books over others, who do not. It is
precisely this form of viewpoint discrimination by elected officials that
our constitutional system is designed to prevent.
By taking accountability, due process, and educational considerations
seriously, school boards may find that book censorship controversies
can be resolved rationally, and with less acrimony, than debates over
whose views and values should prevail. Two recent examples: school
districts in Brunswick County, NC, and Waukesha, WI, followed
transparent policies and educational standards and retained The
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and
Looking for Alaska by John Green, respectively.
Every incident provides a teachable moment. When a principal in
Pensacola, FL, unilaterally removed Cory Doctorows Little Brother from
the summer reading list, the author said, There is an educational
opportunity here for the taking. Im glad to have the chance to make the
most of that opportunity, even if the school administration wont support
its facultys choice and give all the kids in the school the chance to read
and discuss my book.
By drawing attention to these controversies, we can also help motivate
and inspire students like Hannah Lowe to read widely and think critically.
Reading the winning essays may well persuade you, as it did us, that the
kids are all right. www.ncac.org/CamPostHeroes.
T H E L O N G A N D T H E S H O R T O F I T
Boards Behaving Badly
Joan Bertin
Calling all aspiring (teenage)
filmmakers! The deadline for Youth Film
Contest submissions is December 7.
This years theme, Free Speech Forever:
Censorship Past, Present and Future, asks
you to make a short film about any free
expression issuesocial media, internet
filters, sex education, and more while
putting it in a historical context. You can
use our Censorpedia wiki for inspiration!
40 is a good number to celebrate, and
NCACs been doing just that in our
anniversary year with a series of Top
40 lists for your enjoyment. Pop some
corn and check out the latestCut,
Censored, Banned: NCACs Top 40 Film
Picksby visiting ncac.org.
America, his own school punished him
by revoking his prom privileges.
Expressing concerns over the U.S.
governments surveillance activities
conducted under the authority of
Executive Order, NCAC co-signed
a letter to President Obama that
maintains Secret law is a threat to
Democracy.
NCAC proudly supported Banned Books
Weeks freedom to read celebration from
September 21 27. At the Brooklyn Book
Festival, NCAC welcomed visitors to
browse the Banned Books Catalog, which
this year focused on comics and graphic
novels, and hosted a virtual trivia game
that included fun facts on popular
graphic works like Persepolis, Fun
Home, and Neonomicon. The week
culminated with our collaboration
with TADA!, a leading youth
theatre nonprofit in NYC,
whose resident ensemble
put on a series of show-
stopping Banned Broadway
performances.
PULPED!
by Robie H. Harris
content for young readers, and to engage children with literature they
like. And thats just their daily job. When a book is challenged, they go
out of their way to strengthen our advocacy. In August, HarperCollins,
Gaimans publisher and lead sponsor of NCACs event this year,
organized a donation from imprint Balzer & Bray of copies of The
Miseducation of Cameron Post after the book was removed from a
high school reading list in Delaware.
NCAC is grateful for the publishing industrys ongoing
partnership in our fight for kids right to read, and for its support
of our 40th anniversary celebration. As we go to print, additional
sponsors include Penguin Random House, ABRAMS, Candlewick
Press, News Corp, Penguin Young Readers Group, Simon &
Schuster, Hachette Book Group, Writers House LLC, Bloomsbury
Publishing, Foundry Literary & Media, Macmillan Publishers, and
Scholastic, Inc.
Our annual Celebration of Free Speech & Its Defenders will be held on
November 3rd in New York City. For tickets and sponsorship information,
please visit ncac.org/benefit.
to read a book I wrote, that is your right. But if another person
wants to read that book, they must have the right to do so.
Yet, when I read the word PULPED in the news and heard that all three of
the books Michael Emberley and I created had already been PULPED
in Singapore, along with Whos In My Family?, I began to question
what I had created. No matter how many times this has happened,
when it is the book that I wrote that is causing controversy, it gets
me in the gut. I have a sick uncomfortable feeling in the pit of
my stomach as I ask myself over and over, Why do I write books that
cause such controversy and cause so many wonderful individuals to
spend so much time defending these books, often in hostile settings?
Finally, I take a deep breath. And I know why I wrote these books
and why I continue to write the books I am working on now. I write
nonfiction books for young children, kids, and
teens because in some small way I hope they
will find them useful, reassuring, interesting,
and at times humorous, and also might help
them to stay emotionally and physically healthy
by giving them honest, accurate, up-to-date,
and age-appropriate information. I write
picture books because I hope that in some
small way the stories I create will help young
children feel they are not alone as they try to
make some sense of the amazing, diverse, and
often confusing and scary world they live in.
Once I remind myself of all that, I feel better.
But I never get used to hearing theres a challenge
to one of my books. I never stop worrying about those children in this
country or around the world who may not have access to booksfiction or
nonfictionthey need, seek, or come across by happenstance, or books
in which they can find not only themselves, but also their very own families.
And even though some of my books have been PULPED, Im still writing.
PULP noun: A soft, wet, shapeless mass of
material
PULPED verb: To crush into a soft,
shapeless mass
A week into the international controversy over the removal and planned
destructionPULPINGof three childrens picture books by the
National Library of Singapore, I read the headline Singapore halts
pulping of pro-gay books. The article reported that two of the books,
And Tango Makes Three and The White Swan Express, would remain in
the libraries and moved to the adult section, but that one book, WHOS
IN MY FAMILY? All About Our Families, had already
been destroyed. That is a book I wrote and Nadine
Bernard Westcott illustrated. My first thoughts:
This is wrong. What will this mean for the children
and families of Singapore, who now may not have
access to books that validate and respect the fact
that in every community there is not one kind
of family, but many kinds of families, including
families that have a gay parent or gay parents.
My next thoughts: Destroyed! Pulped! I am
not a newcomer to having books I write cause
controversy. The books on sexual health that
I wrote and Michael Emberley illustrated
Its Perfectly Normal, Its So Amazing! and Its Not the Stork!have
been challenged, banned, removed, and stolen from libraries.
In one U.S. community, Xeroxed pages of Its Perfectly Normal
were set on fire as adults and children watched them burn. The
image of children watching what Michael and I created being
destroyed angered me because of its message to children: If you
dont like something, destroy it. My message: If you dont want
Illustration by Michael Emberley from Its Perfectly Normal. Copyright (c) 1994, 2004, 2009 and 2014 by Bird Productions, Inc.
Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.
Free Speech Heroes
Writer Neil Gaiman has said, The simplest
way to make sure that we raise literate
children is to teach them to read, and to
show them that reading is a pleasurable
activity. And that means, at its simplest,
finding books that they enjoy, giving them
access to those books, and letting them read
them.
NCAC honors Neil Gaiman and childrens
book author Robie Harris at this falls Free
Speech Matters celebration for their outspoken defense of a kids
right to read. The people responsible for publishing acclaimed
and challenged works like Gaimans Neverwhere and Harriss
Its Perfectly Normal are also our partners in combating book
censorship.
The publishing industry plays a vital role to ensure the access
that Mr. Gaiman talks about, to offer a diversity of ideas and
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