Since 213 BCE, book burning has been a reaction to the power of the written word, now book censorship takes other forms.

When we talk about modern book banning, often we are referencing choices made in response to the outrage of some group.

There are usually 3 big reasons books are banned; religion, morality, or politics.

An early example in the Americas was the burning of Aztec and Mayan manuscripts by Catholic priests and Conquistadors.

Uncle Tom's Cabin was the first book in the US to experience a ban. Its sale was prohibited in many Southern states.

The Catholic Church established a list of heretical books that required a priest or higher power's permission to read.

In Nazi Germany, the government burned thousands of books by written by authors belonging to certain groups.

Oscar Wilde's novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" was used as evidence in his "gross indecency trial" trial.

The Comstock law was passed in the US in 1873 and had a vague definition of " pornographic materials" that were prohibited.

Two important Supreme Court cases moved the conversation on banned books in a different direction.

In one case, Random House (the publisher of Ulysses) argued that the book was protected under the first amendment.

In the other case, it was argued that Lady Chatterly's Lover was too scandalous for "your wives or your servants to read."

In 1973 the US tweaked its definition of obscenity.

This was a reversal of standards set during the era of the Comstock law.

In 1982, Banned Books Week was established in response to increased challenges of books in schools, libraries, and stores.

In 2019, 8/10 of the most challenged books contained LGBTQ+ content.

So what do we do now? It's up to you to decide if you want to be Team Comstock or Team Wilde.