Letters to the Editor do not reflect the opinions of The Reporter, its publisher or its staff. You can submit your own Letter to the Editor by email to News@ReadTheReporter.com. Please include your phone number and city of residence. The Reporter will publish one letter per person per week.
Dear Editor:
In the book Palm Sunday, Kurt Vonnegut writes, “Whenever ideas are squashed in this country, literate lovers of the American experiment write careful and intricate explanations of why all ideas must be allowed to live. It is time for them to realize that they are attempting to explain America at its bravest and most optimistic to orangutans.”
Hoosier-born Vonnegut was no stranger to book bans during his career. Slaughterhouse-Five, his most well-known novel, has been challenged, removed, burned, and banned from 1975 through the 2010s. A satirical sci-fi novel, people found Slaughterhouse offensive due to scenes involving sex, foul language, the acknowledgment of homosexuality, as well as its strong anti-war themes.
Now the bans have come to central Indiana. Hamilton East Public Library (HEPL) board members will call this a “book-moving” crusade, as the teen sections in Noblesville and Fishers now resemble book ghost towns.
Another famous Hoosier author, John Green, is appalled at the removal of The Fault in Our Stars, a book written for teens with teen protagonists. Has the board read it? I doubt it.
Book bans and removals are a sad attempt at adults who feel threatened by people who don’t think like them to hold onto the power they fear is disappearing. What is actually happening is an attempt at equality.
You have LGBTQIA neighbors. Black co-workers. Non-Christian family members. Drag queens exist. Let their perspectives be represented.
As a syndicated grammar columnist, I don’t agree with any of the HEPL board’s reasoning or perspectives on removing books from the library. Censorship has no place in the public library. It’s a thinly veiled attempt at suppressing the public’s First Amendment rights.
The HEPL board is wasting Hamilton County tax dollar money by combing through books to flag them for suspicious perspectives. I’m a proud Noblesville resident but ashamed of the HEPL board. We can’t let this continue to happen.
Curtis Honeycutt
AKA Grammar Guy
Noblesville