First Amendment Day

So today was First Amendment Day at my university (UNC) and I know that the 1st Amendment focuses on much more freedoms than the freedom of press but honestly I found that to be the most interesting aspect of today and the whole process leading up to today. Due to the few groups I'm in (and listservs) I knew the day was coming up but I was surprised when I went into Bull's Head (bookstore in Student Stores) the other day and saw the "Banned, Censored, and Challenged" section of books in the very front complete with explanations as to why they were challenged, banned or censored. I thought this very informative of the school but then I remembered that I'm no longer in high school but in a public institution where information is handed out freely and willingly. 

Anyways at that moment, upon seeing "Kite Runner" in this section and I bought it on a whim, now being the busy college student I am I have yet to have time to sit down and read it (hell I barely had time to study for my geography exam) but the point is I was enticed [to buy] by the fact that the book was banned.  I encouraged all of my Facebook friends and everyone I knew on campus to drop by and take a look because you might be surprised by what you see. Many of the books there I saw on the AP reading list last year or I had read myself such as "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury or "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker. Also Toni Morrison appeared twice with "Song of Solomon" and "Beloved" then Maya Angelou with "Why the Caged Birds Sing". Then there was "Kite Runner" (previously mentioned) by Khaled Hosseini. I was not surprised to see Harry Potter on the list as we live in a country with many, many religious zealots (for those who do not know, I am love with the HP series and deeply saddened by its end). Then there was "The Golden Compass" and a book by J.R.R. Tolken that WASN'T "Lord of the Rings" (I forget the title). And perhaps the most surprising was "Little Red Riding Hood" because it supposedly supports alcohol abuse since Red takes her grandmother wine and if that's not bad enough "Where the Wild Things Are" was on there too for "...psychoanalytic..." I was like, huh? You reading to deep. There were many more books but those were the ones I could remember off the top of my head. 


What struck me the most about the entire issue is the fact that all of this only leads me to further believe that our country is populated by many, many small-minded people who like being small-minded and closed off to other ideas and beliefs. It always strikes me as boring to be close-minded though, I like being open-minded and open to anything (at least once). I mean that's just how I was raised to be (perhaps I'm fortunate in that aspect). Point being that I think our country could benefit from our high school aged teens reading some provocative" books in order to get them to see other viewpoints since our classrooms don't always promote diversity and openness. I mean honestly how much can a book hurt a solidly founded individual? It can't, it simply opens them to other ideas and allows them to contemplate the issues and perhaps even have dialogue with the text (meaning respond to the text, mark that book up and analyze). I mean that's just my thought. 


As I said before I completely understand that there are other parts to the 1st Amendment and I support those too but I feel as though the freedom of press is one of significant importance because people are always trying to stifle one another's creative visions in writing when all you have to do is not read something if you don't like it. Don't take the pleasure away from someone who may enjoy the text. 


&& that's all for now.
-- lexy.