ALA Accused of Using 'Banned Books' to Keep Concerned Parents Quiet
by Mary Rettig
September 30, 2004
(AgapePress) - The head of the American Decency Association (ADA) says the American Library Association's annual "Banned Books Week" event employs scare tactics in an attempt to silence those who are concerned about objectionable literature in schools and libraries.The American Library Association (ALA) has dubbed the last week of September "Banned Books Week" ever since 1982. But ADA president Bill Johnson claims the ALA uses shady methods, namely the practice of describing any book that has had its appropriateness called into question as a "banned" book.
Johnson believes the ALA baits people with well-known literary classics like To Kill a Mockingbird, grouping them with other books that really should be kept from children. He says that organization "likes to take a book like The Wizard of Oz, or some book like that, and try to use [it to suggest] there are fruitcakes out there, and anybody that expresses a concern about a book in a public library or in a public school library has to be some kind of a kook."
And Johnson notes that he is not the only one who has problems with the annual ALA event. "Other people have written about this," he points out. "Cal Thomas, the syndicated columnist, and Focus on the Family (http://www.family.org) have expressed concerns about 'Banned Books Week' and its strategy to keep the American public in line, to [suggest that people should] just go with the flow, don't say anything, and just hold their opinions to themselves."
The decency advocate says the ALA is pushing the idea "that all [literature] should be considered appropriate -- that's what they say is freedom of speech." But then, he says, the group uses the "banned book" concept as a scare tactic designed to keep parents and teachers from speaking out when they have legitimate concerns about a book -- a strategy that is often effective because most people do not want to be labeled as censors.
Johnson feels the American Library Association does not truly support the First Amendment rights of everyone. He says the ALA uses the "free speech" talk for its own cause, while the organization simultaneously belittles the free-speech rights of parents to speak up and protect their children.
