Censorship is one of those hot button issues that is very difficult to resolve. Obviously there's a line for everyone (ie. no playboy in Elementary Schools), but that line tends to be drawn in different places. My opinion on the topic is that it's up to the reader and in the case of children, the parents, to decide what is appropriate or not. Librarians should select age-appropriate materials for school libraries, and parents should monitor what their children are reading and (gasp) discuss those titles with them. One parent at a school or a library, in my opinion, does not have the right to decide what all the other children can read. It's simple- if you don't like it, don't read it!
My beliefs have been tested over the last couple weeks after I read an article in Macleans Magazine (to read the full article, click here: http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/04/21/the-return-of-hitler/). This article discusses the resurgence of Hitler's ideas in various countries, exemplified in Hitler-chic clothing, elected politicians with anti-semitic leanings, and the renewed interest in his book, Mein Kampf. Normally I would say that it is up to the individual to decide what to read or not, but in the case of hate literature like Mein Kampf, it is not so simple. Eight million people were murdered because of Hitler's ideas- is this really a book that we should allow on our library shelves?
I had this discussion with some co-workers at the library, and one quoted a very powerful quote that I thought very applicable:
Obscenity is not a quality inherent in a book or picture, but is solely and exclusively a contribution of the reading mind, and hence cannot be defined in terms of the qualities of a book or picture. ~Theodore Schroeder
In short, Mr. Schroeder suggests that a book is powerless on its own- it is the reader that gives a novel power and validity. What frightens me is not the book itself- it is merely the ramblings of a paranoid and deluded man- but the readers who will give those beliefs power. Hitler's ideas were powerless on their own- it was the masses of people that supported him that gave him credibility and transformed those ideas into action.
Thankfully, it goes both ways. Readers also have the power to strip Hitler of power, and to replace his hatred with honour and love for his many victims. Perhaps the book can serve as a souvenir of the basest aspects of humanity. Perhaps by remembering both the victims and the perpetrators, we can ensure that we will not victimize others. We can't pretend that evil doesn't exist, and we can't erase the blights on our histories. All we can do is do our very best to ensure they don't happen again.
In short, let Hitler stay on our library shelves. There are many valid reasons to read the book that do not give power to his hate-filled spewings. But let's continue to educate ourselves and each-other so that we don't give his ideas power ever again.
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