Incoming freshmen at Wando County High School have received their summer reading list, a list of suggested books to get them ready for the upcoming year. However, Charleston County Police have challenged two of the books saying they promote an anti-police mentality among impressionable young readers.
The two books that have been challenged are Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give (about to be released as a movie), and All American Boys. Both books deal with similar subject matter, an unarmed character dead at the hands of police violence.
While we can see why Charleston Police may feel this way, we also believe that both books portray utterly believable scenarios. Police violence plagues black communities in the US, and if the police don’t want this portrayed in literature, maybe they need to stop killing unarmed black men and women.
Book challenges are an ongoing issue in the US and power events such as Banned Books week. It’s not even the first time The Hate U Give has been challenged, and we’re reminded of the Oscar Wilde quote ‘The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.’
It seems that the school is not likely to bow to pressure and both books are to remain on the reading list. Through the years there has been a real lack of books showing diverse characters, and black lives in particular and we certainly welcome both these books to the YA popular list! Experience tells us that banning books only makes them more popular and so it’s likely that more people will pick up these books based on these challenges.
In a world where people call the police on little girls selling water and black communities are ravaged by violence and police brutality we need more books like these!
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