All About Cuba and Banning...
Tuesday July 25, 2006
In a recent book-banning case in Florida, books were removed from the library shelves, apparently because they were about Cuba (and Fidel Castro). Now, a judge has "temporarily overturned" the school board's ban.
According to an article from BBC News, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the school board, claiming that "removing the book violated students' constitutional right of access to information under the First Amendment." So, what do you think about the ban (and the judge overturning it)?
Comments
It’s an absolute disgrace that the board removed these books in the first place. Further evidence of the erosion of constitutional rights in the US. Knowledge is power, if the authorites, be they school or governmental, only want us to read and hear the ‘news’ according to them then we truly live in a totalatarian dictatorship. People need to ask themselves, what is their fear. Is it that we’ll find out that Cuba, a 3rd world country still manages to provide all of its citizens with a reasonably high standard of education and health care, FREE OF CHARGE! Or that Havana has a lower infant mortality rate than Washington D.C.
Educate that you may be free and in the words of Bob Marley, ‘none but ourselves can free our minds.’
I’s my strong believe that the so called devious degenerates from the Civil Liberties Union are an extension of the communist regime and one of these days these degenerates will be paying the ultimate price and rooted out by American citizens who have had enough of their devious, malicious nature. If it was up to me.. round up these bastards from the ACLU bring them to the town square and stone them to death.
Thank God the good people that still live in this country will never let fascists like you Carlos get your way without a fight.
Millions of books are published each year. Library boards have to practice “book banning” constantly because they cannot buy every single book that is published. Why should they buy books that demean the people in their areas? Florida has a large Cuban American population. For example:
Someone affiliated with the KKK or a white supremacist group may decide to write a book about Rhodesia and Zimbabwe and use the United Nations figures on infant mortality, life expectancy, murder rates, etc., when that area was a white colony vs now that it is ruled by a black majority to claim that it’s better for the black population in Africa to live under white oppression than freedom. Do you think a book like that should be bought by librarians in areas such as Harlem and given to African American children to read? I don’t think so. I would not consider that book banning. I would consider it good judgment.
I consider it book banning..the ACLU is just an offshoot of the Communist/Atheist regime. Gee…I’m of German extraction…maybe they ought to ban all books about Hitler from libraries so that they don’t offend my “precious” heritage. Maybe the people who wrote about Hitler’s atrocities are “white supremacists” and all belong to the KKK. What nonsense.
Now I’m starting to wonder if Savonarola was reincarnated..another book banner and anti-sumptuary. Big Brother, here we come.
Hitler was one of the worst mass murderers this world has ever seen. His crimes should not be forgotten.
Castro is a dictator. The apartheid regime of Rhodesia was racist and oppressed an entire race. Why should public libraries spend their limited resources buying books by unknown people who follow racists and dictators when there are so many others books they can buy?
If the authors were famous / well known people, that might be an excuse. But what happened to the books by all those unknown writers who wrote about the wonders of the Soviet Union and communist Germany and Poland?
I find alexanders comments startling though not surprising. Its clear that you believe without question the negative press concerning Cuba without question. Since the revolution life has changed dramatically for ordinary Cubans. Is it a perfect system? Of course not, ut with the limited resources they have they are able to ensure that all of her citizens are fed, educated and healthy. For you to make a comparison with Rhodesia or Nazi Germany is a distortion of the truth in the extreme. When compared to neighbouring islands of a similiar size, for example Haiti or Jamaica, what Cuba has achieved is startling.
I could talk all day about the successes of the revolution, but that is not the issue at hand. For you to argue that censorship is OK in the supposed ‘Land of the Free’ needs to defeated outright. Have faith in humanity, give people all of the information and let them make their own minds up. Those books aren’t racist or supremacist in any way. The offer an insight into an alternative system of Government. Of course people will be upset, but fundamentalist Christains are upset at almost every novel published. Should they be banned?
You’ve got that right, Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin. Very, very good post. At least you don’t have your head up your posterior like Alexander does.
PS: I have some of those Fundamentalist Christians in my family and they sure don’t ban those “Left Behind Books”, so why are the other ones banned? Nutso, nutso. Guess they don’t believe in “the truth shall set you free”. These very people who talk about “unknown authors” and spout off about censorship being de rigeur in some cases will read such silly trash as “The DaVinci Code” and “Angels & Demons” which is the worst garbage out there…should that be banned? I don’t think so.
As I said, Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin, at least you don’t have your head up your posterior.
Cheers
Spot on Cookies180. The West are the first to criticize ‘despotic’ regimes for having rigorous censorship laws, remember the fuss about ‘The Great Firewall of China’ and who can forget Iran being demonised after its response to the publication of ‘The Satanic Verses’. The West were right to criticize this censorship, however, to argue that your own form of censorship is necessary, indeed right, is hypocritical in the extreme.
I certainly do remember both instances. How I hate hypocrisy and oppressive elitism, especially religious…they are the first ones, however, to “pick a sin” and feel comfortable with that.
Rock on.
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