Literature CEO of a large publishing house donates half a million dollars to the fight against book bans – More and more people want to ban books in the United States

Books is being banned in U.S. schools and libraries at an ever-increasing rate. At the end of January, for example, it was reported that the school board in Tennessee banned reporting on the Holocaust Art Spiegelman Maus-the use of comic novels in the teaching of eighth-graders.

Read more: The award-winning cartoon Maus depicting Jews as mice and Nazis as cats was banned in an American school – “Why does the education system support such stuff?”

However, a counter-movement is underway. CEO of Penguin Random House Publishing Markus Dohle announced that he would personally donate $ 500,000, or $ 440,000, to the U.S. branch of the Pen Association for Freedom of Expression. The money is set to be used to fight book bans, Pen said on Wednesday.

The New York Times according to Dohle said he hoped others would follow his example and donate money to the new Dohle Book Defense Fund. The fund aims to provide support to communities where the future of books is at stake.

Elapsed over the years, parents, activists, and lawmakers across the United States have made numerous demands to remove certain books from schools. For example, books on sexual orientation and gender identity have been submitted for deletion. In Texas and South Carolina, governors have instructed them to remove what they call pornographic material from school libraries.

In Wyoming in turn there was a desire to fine library staff for adding books such as Sex Is a Funny Word and This Book Is Gay. In Oklahoma, a bill was presented to the state Senate that would have banned public school libraries from working on sexual activity and sexual and gender identity.

In Utah on the list of banned books is, among other things, a Nobel laureate Toni Morrison The blueest eyes (The Bluest Eye).

In the same context, there have also been demands on what can be taught in schools. Prohibition demands have been made in particular to talk about critical race theorywhich seeks to become aware of the power positions of sections of the population.

Prohibitions demanding people claim that the books contain content harmful to children. Opponents of the bans, meanwhile, say deleting the books violates the rights of parents and students. They think it is important to read different books so that children can learn more about themselves and the world around them.

For Markus Dohle, the question of banning books is both professional and personal. Born in Germany, Dohle says he grew up aware of “the country’s gloomy times and history”. During his career, Dohle has worked in several countries that restrict freedom of expression and expression, such as Poland in the 1990s, Russia in the early 2000s, and China.

In the U.S., Dohle comments on bans and restrictions on books: “It’s dangerous. It is incomprehensible. And tackling it is very important, and it has to do with the future of our democracy. ”