Literature in the News

New CBS News/YouGov Poll on Book Banning

Ground News is reporting about a recent CBS News/YouGov poll finding that “more than eight in 10” people believe books shouldn’t be banned from schools because they discuss race or criticize U.S. history.

According to the poll’s own website- “This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,494 U.S. adult residents interviewed between February 15-18, 2022. Respondents were selected to be representative of adults nationwide with an oversample of African-American respondents included, and the final sample as reported was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to gender, age, race, and education based on the U.S. Census American Community Survey and Current Population Survey, as well as to 2020 presidential vote. The margin of error for the total sample is ±2.3 points. The margin of error for the sample of African Americans is ±5.0 points.”

We at the E-JSD believe you should take such polling data with a grain of salt.

We noted there’s a clear split between those claiming to be Republican/Conservative and Democrat/Liberal in the polling results when asked. Which is in part already showing up in legislative efforts in places like Florida concerning how public-school library books are handled regarding race and gender issues.

While we at the E-JSD feel that all politics of this nature are a local issue, it also reminded us of the warnings in Ray Bradbury’s 1953 dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451.

Things such a book banning can go in both directions. Even a classic piece of literature, such as Shakespeare, can be banned if some group finds the smallest part offensive. This is the point behind Fahrenheit 451 is if we, as Americans, let our “sensitivities” rule and dominate our minds to the point of banning and cancelling ideas, it diminishes the right to free speech we hold so dear in the U.S. to a meaningless law.

We encourage all to read Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451… or at least see the movie.