What use is censorship?
*To suppress minority voices. *To manipulate or persuade. *To protect young minds.
*To withhold information. *To restrict speech. *To pacify.
*To strengthen control. *To restrict personal expression. *To dispel inappropriateness.
How the Dominant Culture Uses Censorship To Suppress Minority Voices
and Examples From Mary Lord's, U.S. News and World Report Article, "Remaking History"
Works Cited: Lord, Mary. "Remaking History." U.S. News & World Report 133.20 (2002): 46. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 May 2013.
This is not a new phenomenon...
Minorities have been suppressed and oppressed through the use of censorship by a dominant culture since the beginning of such distinctions. For example, "petticoat-authors" popped up in the nineteenth century as a result of women's inability "to publish because of their gender," which "forced them to resort to male pennames" because of "the power of censorship and social censure" (Wielding the Red Pen 1). Nowadays, the problem of censoring minority voices reaches more towards ethnic background and less towards gender. The University of Virginia Library tackled this issue in their event on minority censorship titled, "CENSORED: Wielding the Red Pen" wherein an article that supported the event is published on the library's page. The opening paragraph is exactly the issues that face minority writers in today's society:
Many authors have been suppressed more because of their minority status than their actual words. Censors have sought to guard the cultural narratives of the mainstream from alternative and fringe views. They have exercised their red pens to keep classes, genders, and races within the boundaries of social expectations. This pressure to conform has resulted in various artistic responses. At one end of the spectrum, we find subterfuge, at the other, open rebellion (1).
Some of the most influential examples of suppressed minority's are the works of Malcolm X and Maya Angelou who represented the African-American personal experience and declared that the "experience cannot be ignored, silenced, or easily labeled" (1). Is it right to prohibit someone from telling of their own life? It shouldn't be. But, all too often, the dominant culture works to cover up or suppress those images that may stain their reputation. For example, Maya Angelou's piece, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings describes her traumatic experience of being raped as a child and the six years of muteness that followed, and in response "parents of schoolchildren in Maine, Washington, and California, [describe] the rape and other graphic scenes have caused them to condemn the book as a lurid tale of sexual perversion that "encourages premarital sex'" (1). If a society cannot accept the truth, no matter how graphic and disturbing that truth may be, it is doomed from progressing. Even more controversial among the dominant culture is the work of Malcom X, most notably his book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which explores his bitterness "towards a callous welfare system that broke up his family" and "attacks white society for it's collusion in restricting the accomplishments of African Americans" (1). White society attempts to censor and ban Malcolm X's book still to this day under the pretense that it is "filthy," "racist," and "criminal" (1). Some library's went so far as to label it a "how-to for crime" (1).
The suppression does not stop there. Literature from sexual minorities is one of the quickest genres of literature to banned and censored. The conservative, heterosexual white culture that is intent on censoring literature labels these books as displaying "unnatural tendencies" (1). In 1973, Rita Mae Brown wrote Rubyfruit Jungle, a lesbian novel about a young girl who seduces her classmates. It took 15-years for Rubyfruit Jungle to be published in a hard-copy (1). Brown credits another form of censorship as her novels are classified as "gay literature" and her books are listed in "lesbian sections" (1). She has an excellent point. Would a young reader or even adult reader feel comfortable to seek out a gay section of a library. Moreover, why should the main character's sexual orientation have any indication of how the book is shelved. The treatment of Brown's novel is another indication of a dominant culture wanting to suppress the lesbian literary voice and make the novel extremely hard to find.
Dominant cultures are quick to label minority literature as vulgar and inappropriate because it is different from their own close-minded thought of what is acceptable for the nation's youth. What should be acceptable is a deep understanding of America's diverse cultures and a knowledge base that keeps history from repeating itself. Only then will society advance to a place of inclusion.
*READ THE REST OF THIS EXCELLENT ARTICLE HERE!*
Many authors have been suppressed more because of their minority status than their actual words. Censors have sought to guard the cultural narratives of the mainstream from alternative and fringe views. They have exercised their red pens to keep classes, genders, and races within the boundaries of social expectations. This pressure to conform has resulted in various artistic responses. At one end of the spectrum, we find subterfuge, at the other, open rebellion (1).
Some of the most influential examples of suppressed minority's are the works of Malcolm X and Maya Angelou who represented the African-American personal experience and declared that the "experience cannot be ignored, silenced, or easily labeled" (1). Is it right to prohibit someone from telling of their own life? It shouldn't be. But, all too often, the dominant culture works to cover up or suppress those images that may stain their reputation. For example, Maya Angelou's piece, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings describes her traumatic experience of being raped as a child and the six years of muteness that followed, and in response "parents of schoolchildren in Maine, Washington, and California, [describe] the rape and other graphic scenes have caused them to condemn the book as a lurid tale of sexual perversion that "encourages premarital sex'" (1). If a society cannot accept the truth, no matter how graphic and disturbing that truth may be, it is doomed from progressing. Even more controversial among the dominant culture is the work of Malcom X, most notably his book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which explores his bitterness "towards a callous welfare system that broke up his family" and "attacks white society for it's collusion in restricting the accomplishments of African Americans" (1). White society attempts to censor and ban Malcolm X's book still to this day under the pretense that it is "filthy," "racist," and "criminal" (1). Some library's went so far as to label it a "how-to for crime" (1).
The suppression does not stop there. Literature from sexual minorities is one of the quickest genres of literature to banned and censored. The conservative, heterosexual white culture that is intent on censoring literature labels these books as displaying "unnatural tendencies" (1). In 1973, Rita Mae Brown wrote Rubyfruit Jungle, a lesbian novel about a young girl who seduces her classmates. It took 15-years for Rubyfruit Jungle to be published in a hard-copy (1). Brown credits another form of censorship as her novels are classified as "gay literature" and her books are listed in "lesbian sections" (1). She has an excellent point. Would a young reader or even adult reader feel comfortable to seek out a gay section of a library. Moreover, why should the main character's sexual orientation have any indication of how the book is shelved. The treatment of Brown's novel is another indication of a dominant culture wanting to suppress the lesbian literary voice and make the novel extremely hard to find.
Dominant cultures are quick to label minority literature as vulgar and inappropriate because it is different from their own close-minded thought of what is acceptable for the nation's youth. What should be acceptable is a deep understanding of America's diverse cultures and a knowledge base that keeps history from repeating itself. Only then will society advance to a place of inclusion.
*READ THE REST OF THIS EXCELLENT ARTICLE HERE!*
A Few Censored Texts by Minority Authors
What is the Dominant Culture?
In order to explore how dominant cultures suppress minority voices through censorship, it is important to understand which dominant cultures exist in American society. Dominant cultures are those that have a high consistency of cultural traditions, more so than other cultures in the same society. In America, the dominant culture is often a taboo topic because it describes a certain classification of peoples. Craig White, an English professor at the University of Houston Clear Lake describes, "The idea of a dominant culture is elusive and uncomfortable, so most people don't think or talk about it except in brief references or symbols" (White 1). The dominant culture has a certain amount of power, which intimidates minority cultures and keeps them from speaking up. According to White, the easiest way to identify the dominant culture is to ask yourself these questions: "What is the culture to which immigrants assimilate? What styles or values prevail in mainstream American culture?" (1). Most people would recognize an elite, 'white male' or predominantly white culture in American society not only because that culture is the most populated one at this present time, but also because of the population of upper-class America is predominantly white. Craig White agrees, "Other simple approaches are to say the dominant culture is "the rich" or "white people"--that is, identifying by class or race" (1). For more information on the dominant culture as described by Craig White in his literature lecture, click here.
This chart, at right, shows a projection of the race percentage change from 2005 to 2040 in the U.S. While the white culture may be the dominant culture as of now, that may change when the U.S. reaches deeper into the 21st Century as families become racially blended. The chart depicts the greatest percentage increase in blended families, with over a 200% increase. These changes may disrupt the current social norms and allow minority voices to be heard at a much higher rate.
This chart, at right, shows a projection of the race percentage change from 2005 to 2040 in the U.S. While the white culture may be the dominant culture as of now, that may change when the U.S. reaches deeper into the 21st Century as families become racially blended. The chart depicts the greatest percentage increase in blended families, with over a 200% increase. These changes may disrupt the current social norms and allow minority voices to be heard at a much higher rate.