Photo by Chris Smith.

“Without comprehensive [immigration] reform, it’s just a game.”

Pellegrino, 55, is a vocal supporter of allowing KSU’s Jessica Colotl, an undocumented student who faces deportation, to remain in the United States. Colotl, arrested in March for a minor traffic violation on campus, was discovered to be in the United States illegally, having been brought to the country at the age of ten by her parents. She was turned over to immigration officials in Gadsden, AL and subsequently granted a one-year deferment to finish school. Upon her release, Cobb County Sheriff Neil G. Warren promptly issued a warrant for her arrest for allegedly giving police false information during her initial detainment.

The actions of local law enforcement have stirred the community with cries of support for Colotl and adversely, acclamations for Sheriff Warren’s tough stance on undocumented residents in the county. Pellegrino is highly critical of Sheriff Warren who Pellegrino accuses of “violating [Warren's] oath of office” regarding his enforcement of 287(g), referring to the section in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 that grants local law enforcement the power to act on behalf of the federal government to detain undocumented immigrants. “Ninety percent of law enforcement agencies will not touch 287(g) with a 10-foot pole.”

Pellegrino stated that 287(g) is a “draconian measure,” claiming the program has to the power to justify misdeeds from a minority of “bad cops.” He also stated that 287(g) is an example of “good intentioned policy,”  but is prone to abuses by law enforcement officials.

“Everything is a deportable offense,” says Pellegrino. “Seventy-five percent of the [undocumented] are arrested for [traffic] misdemeanors.”

Pellegrino also stated that the enforcement of 287(g) targets people based on race and may lead to civil liberty violations of people who he claims are not a threat to Cobb County.

“Ninety-nine percent of legislators targeting immigrants have been Republican,” claims Pellegrino. Pellegrino cites state officials John Wiles (State Senate, R-37) and Chip Rogers (State Senate Majority Leader, R-21) as two advocators of what he describes as the Republican-conservative platform of immigrant targeting.

“It’s one of the biggest political blunders,” Pellegrino states, claiming the Hispanic population has traditionally held solidly Republican political ideals.

Pellegrino said he is a proponent of decentralized government in certain aspects, but believes Georgia’s officials have done a poor job on the state level. Pellegrino also believes that economics plays a pivotal role in how immigration is handled on both the state and federal level.

“Sixty percent of [Georgia's] agricultural work force is undocumented,” claimed Pellegrino. “The creed [of the U.S.] is money, race and culture.”

“[Current immigration laws] penalize children for [their] parents coming into the country illegally,” said Pellegrino. Pellegrino states that legislative changes are a necessity, and believes that current enforcement legislation will be trumped by the construction of comprehensive immigration reform policies.

“Enforcement alone does not work,” Pellegrino said.

Pellegrino encourages the passage of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM), and wishes to reach a compromise consisting of “all things [both] sides want.” Pellegrino would like to see waiting periods for immigrants altered, citing the importance of “realistic quotas for skilled and unskilled laborers.” He would also like to establish “permanent residency” for the 12 million undocumented immigrants currently residing in the United States.

“[The Cobb Coalition and the Cobb Immigrant Alliance] have been very active with the Kennesaw State University community,” Pellegrino stated. He wishes to hold an “educational forum” on Kennesaw State University campus regarding both the Colotl incident and further relations with the community involving unauthorized immigrants.

Pellegrino also claimed that Kennesaw State Police officials have been unresponsive in communicating with the Cobb Coalition and the Cobb Immigrant Alliance.  “[The groups] have received no information from [KSU Police].”

Pellegrino is also suspicious of the current polices set in place by the Georgia Board of Regents, citing them as not only “hazy and full of loopholes” but also frivolous in allowing students and employees to use the honor system for the processing of unauthorized immigrants.

With regard to the advancement of unauthorized immigrants, Pellegrino is optimistic, yet simultaneously wary. “I believe this will be the quickest time that as a group we hate somebody and then we forget about it,” Pellegrino said. “The sad thing is, it will get worse before it gets better.”

The tentative date set for a forum regarding the details around Colotl’s arrest and current standing will be held in KSU’s university rooms in the Carmichael Student Center on June 8 at 6:30 p.m.

Ultimately, Ms. Colotl was the prey of happenstance; had it not been for the uproar over the Arizona immigration laws earlier in the year, who knows whether or not her incident would have gained as much exposure. If nothing else, her story demonstrates the unpredictability of American existence; one day, you’re studying for finals, and the next, you are the reluctant poster child for a transnational debate.

I feel sorrow for Ms. Colotl in some aspects, as I would for anyone that is forced to stay in Alabama for any prolonged amount of time. Also, I doubt the Office of the Registrar accepts “being caught in the middle of an international incident” as a legitimate excuse for dropping one’s summer courses, so yeah, that has to indelibly suck.

That being said, as far as deportation cases go, I think Ms. Colotl is getting about as good a public defense as anyone in the country has gotten since the Elian Gonzalez soap opera. Somewhere in the state, an ICE squad is loading a trailer park full of Mexicans into the back of a van, and certainly, the ACLU isn’t going to hold demonstrations for them. There won’t be any downtown protests for Miguel the detained pressure washer, nor are there any Facebook pages set up for the liberation of Jose the confined carpet mill worker.

All in all, it’s a tough break for Ms. Colotl, but it’s not all bad. She could easily parlay this thing into a book deal, and this case has all of the makings of a Lifetime made-for-TV movie.

You have to think long-term with these ordeals; it’s a nuisance, but ten years from now, when they’re showing “I Was An Illegal Immigrant Political Science Major” for the nine-millionth time on cable, she’ll look back on her tribulations and smile.

After all, every darkened cloud has a silver lining, and hers is sure to contain a future residual check or two.

Many of the nativists who are demanding Colotl’s immediate deportation or incarceration like to hide behind their convenient “law and order” shield. Yes, we are a nation founded upon rule of law, but we are also a nation that claims to uphold “liberty and justice for all.” Where these value systems conflict, as was the case for many years during the Jim Crow era in the South, we must not make these sorts of judgments lightly.

Should Jessica completely get away with driving without a license and the supposed crime of lying about her address? No, but that doesn’t mean the justice system should throw the book at her. After all, we don’t always throw the book at those who break other laws (like drug use), so why must we crucify an otherwise “model citizen” (or “non-citizen” in this case)? Deciding on a course of action that upholds our supposed allegiance to “liberty and justice for all” by stopping short of prosecuting a harmless girl to the fullest extent of the law is not tantamount to “amnesty” as nativist reactionaries like to claim.

I also have serious constitutional concerns regarding the 287(g) program implemented by Cobb County against her. The U.S. Constitution delegates certain powers to the federal government and certain powers to the states, thus establishing a legal tradition of federalism. The federal government is given exclusive power over immigration and naturalization issues, as this is an inseparable component over the federal government’s jurisdiction over foreign policy. Local law enforcement has no business enforcing federal immigration law. Conservatives who claim to support federalism should stand with progressives in opposing this abuse of power.

Jessica is not a drug runner and hasn’t killed any Arizona ranchers lately, so this nativist outrage is misplaced. Jessica was brought to America by her family when she was a little girl. America is her rightful home and Mexico might as well be a foreign country to her. She may not be here legally, but I think there is a strong case for working to make her legal. Given her circumstances, she should be allowed to apply for permanent resident status or at least a temporary green card.

There have been only a few EICs in The Sentinel’s 44-year history to hold the position for two semesters. Why am I a member of such a small group? I love newspapers. And I love people who work at newspapers.

When I started working as an editorial assistant for The Red & Black in fall 2006 at UGA, I never thought I’d be editor-in-chief of anything, and I certainly didn’t know I’d go to graduate school at KSU.

I was a comparative literature major. For those of you asking the obvious question, it’s like an English major with a multicultural twist.

In other words, I learned nothing I know of journalism in an undergraduate class. I learned by experience, and I became a copy editor my second semester at The Red & Black. Not only did I learn everything I know about journalism, but newspaper work was also my college social life.

I graduated from UGA in August 2007 and started the Master of Arts in Professional Writing program at KSU in June 2008. I didn’t even try to work for The Sentinel my first fall semester because I thought I wasn’t allowed.

I thought I had a graduate research assistantship, but after many phone calls and confusing e-mails, I found out that my position was simply a graduate assistantship. One main difference between GAs and GRAs is that GRAs aren’t permitted to have a second on-campus job.

I was taking feature writing, so at my professor’s suggestion I turned in a piece of my work from class to The Sentinel. The article made it into the last issue of fall 2008 and so began my love for KSU student media.

The spring 2009 EIC was nice enough to offer me the position of Arts & Living Editor and I accepted. I was excited about actually having subordinate staff. I was pretty low in the office hierarchy at The Red & Black.

Before long, the student newspaper took over my life-socially, academically (I earned six hours of internship credit from working at The Sentinel) and mentally. I was constantly thinking about next week’s issue.

The newspaper life-takeover continued until I finally offered myself to it entirely by filling out the EIC application at 4:45 p.m. The deadline was 5 p.m. that day. It’s not that I didn’t want the job; I was the only staff member even considering it.

I was worried about-for lack of a better phrase-biting off more than I could chew. I didn’t know if it was feasible to try to be an EIC, graduate student and graduate assistant. I don’t regret my decision at all. I bit off just the right amount and I’ve been chewing contentedly for 11 months because of my fortune of having a great staff.

Managing a group of underachieving losers would be hell for a leader in any profession. I didn’t have that problem.

Even though we met for production of the newspaper only once a week instead of daily, I think I became closer to this group. The Sentinel staff is smaller, so there are few members I don’t know personally.

It’s been a crazy ride being EIC for so long. Some weeks went smoother than others, but the staff and I weathered all the crises, office conflicts, corrections, mistaken identities and controversial cartoons that appeared during my time in office.

You’re lucky if you like you’re job, but you’re extremely lucky if you like your job and your coworkers. I am extremely lucky.

The Sentinel is extremely lucky as well, as I leave it under the ambitious and zealous leadership of the über-capable fall 2010 EIC. The newspaper has now taken over her life, and I’m glad I’ll be around to watch the madness.

I’ve gained journalistic knowledge, friendships, relationships and a purpose that had a large part in shaping my graduate education. The newspaper took over my life, but it’s time for me to hyper-focus on something else-a magazine, perhaps?

All of these are simply myths - untruths created by people who want to think we can avoid the petty partisan bickering that Washington and every other government, whether local or state, descends into day after day. There are some who realize this and point to our two-party political system as the culprit, who say that if we just get some more legitimate parties into the fray, we’ll solve this. That solution is like trying to heal a compound fracture by putting a bandage over the broken skin. It doesn’t solve the underlying cause of the issue. Truthfully, it’s the makeup of our country that’s to blame.

America is made up of immigrants from many, many countries from all over the world. While the vast majority of those immigrants have adopted our language and culture, they still have their fundamental beliefs intact. Some of those beliefs are more conservative than others; some are more liberal. As the different immigrants intermarried and sired generation after generation, some of these beliefs got passed on.

These different ideals coming from different backgrounds clashed; that is the underlying tension you see in America today. It’s not just that Republicans and Democrats hate each other; it’s that John Smith was taught a set of ideals by his parents because they were taught that by their parents, all because it’s what makes the most sense to them. In the same way, Jane Doe had another set of values passed on to her through her parents.

Of course, they are also influenced by the outside world and the values of others. Don’t think I’m saying that all political belief is simply hereditary. It’s just how it starts. We disagree because America is built upon such a vastly different and heterogeneous mixture of people that there is no way we could not conflict with each other. And since at least part of who we are is influenced by where we came from (parents, et cetera), those differences continually get passed down. But don’t be fooled- that’s just the beginning. The underlying cause of our conflict is our diversity, but doesn’t our political system contribute to it in at least some capacity? Of course it does.

From the birth of our country, there have been two opposing cliffs: one on the left, one on the right, with a valley in between them. Compromising between left and right used to be easier, but Lyndon Johnson’s administration saw a massive split in Congress that deepened and widened this valley. Richard Nixon’s presidency increased the valley’s size tenfold. Issues such as abortion, gay marriage, war and the draft are incredibly polarizing, as are candidates who insist on pitting people against each other for political gain (nearly every politician does this, so don’t think your favorite is above reproach).

The simple fact is you can’t disagree with someone anymore without having to ally yourself with their polar opposite. Involvement on any issue forces you to one side or the other; the valley in between them is far too vast for anyone to stand in. There is no middle ground to speak of. The backgrounds, issues and politicians that divide us make it impossible to be a moderate outside of isolation. You have to pick a side if you want to be active on any issue. It’s just the way it works. We will never be post-partisan. It’s time we stopped deluding ourselves.

Reflecting on these past few years at KSU helped me realize just how important and precious education is for us all. We’ve been given an incredible opportunity to study, research, question and expand our knowledge about the world around us; it’s a gift that we should never take for granted. At a time when education is on the chopping block in states nationwide, realize how fortunate you are to be at KSU and make use of everything the faculty and staff provide.

An education is the most important key not only to bettering yourself but the world. It unlocks the doors to your mind and gives you the opportunity of a lifetime. There are millions around the world who  lack a fundamental education that we so often take for granted in the United States. It’s a common expectation for the middle class of this country to complete a high school education and then go on to college and complete at least one degree. It has become so expected that many students who grace KSU’s campus take their education for granted and don’t understand the precious treasure they’re seeking.

Despite the economic downturn, receiving a college degree all but guarantees you a chance to seek a better, higher-paying job in a field that you prefer. It allows you to pursue graduate and post-graduate degrees to advance not only your own knowledge, but also the knowledge needed to advance the world. If it were not for the education I’ve received, I would not have the job I do today; nor would I be sitting here writing this very column. The chance of receiving an education is the greatest gift that’s ever been bestowed upon me, and I cannot thank those involved in that process enough for everything they’ve done for me.

As you read this, please contemplate your own future, both in terms of your education and what lies beyond your time at KSU. Do you realize as you sit on our wonderful campus the opportunities within the doors of every classroom building? Someone in your life, whether it’s your parents, grandparents, wealthy benefactors, scholarships donors, loan makers or yourself, has provided you with the chance of a lifetime. You cannot and must not take it for granted.

Receiving a college degree is not meant to be easy. It takes dedicated work and a commitment to achieve the honor of being a college graduate, but it’s an effort that will pay off when you finish. However, you must have fun, enjoy yourself and treasure the memories that your education can provide. Over the past few years, I’ve had the pleasure of working on political campaigns, hosting a show on Owl Radio and writing for The Sentinel,  all while I’ve taken courses that both challenged and engaged me in what they had to offer. These experiences have defined the person I am and who I strive to be.  When I first set foot on KSU’s campus, I never thought for even an instant I would do what I have done.

As I depart KSU and move onto the next chapter in my life, it’s your turn to seize your time here and define who you are. I promise you won’t regret a single moment Between the struggles and triumphs of your college career, you will find in your heart, mind and soul just how important education is for us all. KSU, and all college campuses for that matter, are amazing places where opportunities are endless and the wonders of the world are unlocked for all who wish to pursue them. The sun is setting on spring semester 2010, but summer and fall are on the horizon. A new day is dawning, and it’s yours for the taking. Don’t take this opportunity for granted, and your wildest dreams will be realized.

Thank you to each and every one of you - professors, classmates and most importantly friends and family - who’ve made these past few years the best of my life. To everyone else, good night and good luck.

That being said, there is a difference between approving of a certain decision and wanting the government to make that decision for people. In most cases, adultery is not illegal, but most of us don’t want to live in a society in which adultery is commonplace. Furthermore, I believe it would be beneficial to our society if more people decided intoxication in any form is just unnecessary and, in many cases, potentially dangerous.

I know getting wasted on weekends is just part of college, but is drunkeness actually a good path to self-fulfillment? If you had a really awesome night, wouldn’t you prefer to remember it in detail the next day?

I am also well aware of the effectiveness of alcohol as a hook-up aid. Of course, anyone who needs alcohol to get laid probably has low standards anyway, so dependency on alcohol should come as no surprise. I actually think it’s easier to score if you’re sober.

Strangely enough, many legal jurisdictions define “rape” to include sex with a person under the influence of alcohol, even if that person says “yes.” This brings me to an interesting question. Why does our legal system hold people criminally responsible for choosing to get drunk and subsequently drive, but does not consider a person who chooses to get drunk and subsequently have sex responsible enough to give consent? “No” means “no,” but why should “yes” also mean “no”?

A little consistency here would be nice. Of course, blaming it all on the alcohol may be one example of what many pick-up artists call the “anti-slut defense.” Alcohol is just a convenient scapegoat some people use to evade responsibility, unless of course that person happens to be behind the wheel of a car.

Issues with legal consistency aside, wouldn’t both of these activities be much safer and more enjoyable if done without the mental and physical impairment induced by alcohol? I realize that many people drink in moderation, and avoid getting seriously drunk, but that still brings me back to a basic cost-benefit question. If you weigh the dangers of alcohol against any possible benefits, it’s still a pretty clear case for sobriety. If your goal is not to get drunk, then why not order a non-alcoholic beverage?

Greek organizations on college campuses are the worst when it comes to promoting drunken idiocy, especially when a binge drinker doesn’t wake up afterward. Fraternities and sororities are said to be home to the leaders of tomorrow. Apparently, they are also home to candidates for the Darwin Awards. The same can be said about Big Mac addicts and chain smokers, but binge drinking can kill a person a lot faster.

The same basic cost-benefit analysis also applies to illegal drugs, including safe drugs such as like marijuana. I know marijuana is not nearly as dangerous as alcohol or cigarettes, but serving jail time is pretty dangerous. I am in favor of legalizing all drugs, but until you can buy pot in the candy aisle at your local Walgreens, you risk serving hefty jail terms, especially here in Georgia, if you get caught with it. The maximum sentence for marijuana possession in Georgia is 40 years.

There are some people with serious illnesses who could really use some pot for medical purposes, but for most people, the risk of prosecution should outweigh the temporary effects of marijuana consumption, which isn’t really all that pleasing anyway. The KSU Sentinel’s Police Beat section is almost always filled with cases of arrests for DUIs and marijuana possession. Why risk it?

I used to drink socially, but gave it up after seeing alcohol consumption seriously mess up people’s lives, including someone who was a close friend of mine. Being sober also allows me to perceive the world around me as clearly as possible. Why should anyone trade that for intoxication?

On April 14, Comedy Central aired a new episode of the hit animated comedy, “South Park.” For their 200th episode, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone brought all of the celebrities they had made fun of throughout their 14 seasons back to the town of South Park. After an incident in which Tom Cruise was called a “fudge-packer” while packing fudge in a fudge factory, Cruise assembles all of the other celebrities to file a class-action lawsuit against the town.

The people of the town beg the celebrities not to sue and ask what they can do in return. The celebrities demand that the prophet Mohammed be delivered to them immediately. The celebrities want to use Mohammed’s “goo” to become invincible to criticism. This illustrated the fear surrounding the criticism or even the simple presentation of Mohammed in our pictures, movies and television.

After producing the movie “Submission” about the maltreatment of Muslim women, Dutch film director Theo Van Gogh was murdered by an Islamic extremist on November 2, 2004.  On September 30, 2005, 12 editorial cartoons featuring the prophet Mohammed appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. These simple cartoons, meant to shed light on the debate surrounding criticism of Islam and its followers, sparked protests and an eventual eruption of violence throughout the Muslim world.

Since these events, the governments of European countries such as Italy, Britain and Norway have cracked down on individuals who dare criticize any aspects of the Islamic faith, even the violence directed at those who criticize. Where governments have not created laws, members and organizations of these countries have chosen self-censorship out of fear.

This issue has been the subject of a few episodes of “South Park.” In the “Imagination Land” trilogy, the characters of “South Park” constantly proclaim that “terrorists are attacking our imaginations.” In another two-part episode, big-boned Eric Cartmen seeks to remove an episode of “Family Guy” that shows Mohammed, but not in support of political correctness, of course. In the “Family Guy” episode and the 200th episode, Comedy Central censored the image of Mohammed.

After the first part of the 200th episode aired, Abu Talhah al Amrikee, an author from the radical Islamic Web site Revolutionmuslim.com, posted a warning to the creators, which reads: “We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show. This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them.”

According to CNN, the post proceeded to provide addresses of Comedy Central’s New York and Los Angeles headquarters, as well as Parker and Sloane’s production company,. Amrikee said the addresses were provided “to give people the opportunity to protest” the episode.

What is there to protest? The episode gave no explicit criticism of Mohammed or even the Islamic religion. The only criticism was of those who wish to sacrifice freedom of expression to religious extremists, which Comedy Central appears to be.

The second part of the episode aired on April 22 and faced further censorship from Comedy Central after this threat was posted. Unlike part one, Comedy Central censored “Mohammed” every time the word was spoken. The final monologue of the episode by Kyle, Santa Claus and Jesus was about “intimidation and fear” and did not even mention Mohammed, according to a statement issued by the creators. This final speech was also bleeped by Comedy Central.

The executives at Comedy Central have displayed the ultimate disrespect for free speech in their recent actions. “South Park” did not even criticize Mohammed or the Islamic faith, despite their right to do so, and they were still bleeped by the hypocrites at Comedy Central. These two episodes offended countless celebrities, races, religions and other groups, yet only the image of and the word “Mohammed” were censored.

Criticizing Islam is not racist or bigoted. Bruce Bawer of “Reason” said it best: “Islam is not a race but a religion whose ideology should, in a democratic society, be entirely open to criticism-and, for that matter, to parody and mockery.” “South Park’s” 68th episode, called “Super Best Friends,” featured the image of Mohammed and nothing happened. This recent fear is irrational and harmful to healthy discourse and debate.

Note: My piece called “It’s time to make English the official language of the United States” was satire. Have a great summer everyone!

Libertarianism: The hottest thing in irrationality

James Swift’s article on libertarianism just goes to show how dangerous a person can be with a pen and a little bit of information (or in this case a lot of misinformation). I would be very interested to see what study the columnist did that gave results like “hardcore” libertarians are the same people who claim 9/11 was an inside job, and more importantly how those results stack up with the extremists from other political denominations. I also have to wonder just how much information Mr. Swift was able to garner from his “two years of incessant exposure” given some of his conclusions about the party. For one libertarianism is not some new phenomenon, or some “passing fad”, that is just a group of disenfranchised republicans, and it really shouldn’t be too difficult to find like-minded members of the party if you bother to look. Of course I’ll admit that if you are looking for 100% agreement among individuals then you won’t find it, but if those are your standards then when you apply them to the other parties you are going to find the same wide ranging belief sets. It sure would be wonderful if writers of opinion pieces made the effort to do some meaningful research into a topic before formulating a definitive opinion and then trying to argue their point.

Andrew Stephens
Finance
2011

The danger of Ray McBerry and Southern radicalism

Dear Editors,
Mr. Cole’s article that attempted to discredit Ray McBerry, Republican candidate for governor, was misleading at best downright ignorant at worst. First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Zach Carter, and I support Ray McBerry. I can assure you and all of the readers of the Sentinel that Mr. McBerry would not use government to force his views upon the State which he governs. In fact, his views are an absolute contradiction to all advocates of government force in any aspect of our lives, excepting that the government should use force to protect our natural rights to Life, Liberty, and Property.

Mr. Coles portrays McBerry as a man who would utilize the government’s power of force to impose his views upon the citizenry. However, McBerry is a classical liberal, and if you study classical liberalism, an over-arching theme that you will find is the non-aggression principle. This basically states that every individual has the right to do whatever he or she pleases, as long as he or she does not infringe another person’s rights listed above. This is why talk of Georgia becoming a statewide war-zone upon McBerry’s election is nonsense.

Lastly, I have been to several speeches given by McBerry myself, even eaten dinner with him, and I can tell you that the League of the South was not mentioned once. We should not judge politicians by their personal lives, how many wives they have had, their sexual orientation, what organizations they belong to, etc., but by their policies, beliefs, and voting records.

Zach Carter
Economics and Spanish
2013

But how does this affect us as college students?  As we complete elementary, middle or high school, we may or may not experience censorship, but the principle sticks with us.

Censorship teaches us to not challenge authorities and ideas. Our intellectual freedom is diminished and our cultural understanding thwarted. Books that discuss controversial issues such as sex, slavery or unconventional family structures are banned. We are denied their contents and insights.

Throughout my life, I was under the impression that school was about learning.  The point was to learn new things, face challenges and even tackle the very things that made us uncomfortable. But banning books undermines this.   An institution that censors is teaching its students that it’s OK to limit and devalue intellectual freedom.  The unfortunate  part is that many students carry this belief with them into college.

Furthermore, the lessons learned from books ssuch as “The Color Purple” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” are important to our understanding of literature, history and culture. If issues in these books are denied from students, then how will the student fare when they get to college?  Will they be able to thoroughly address topics such as sexual abuse and racism with their peers if they have never encountered these issues before?  We have to learn about explicit experiences and histories in order to have a well-rounded perspective about the world.  How would our understanding of slavery and racism change if we weren’t allowed to read Frederick Douglass or “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”?

Censorship prescribes us with limited perspectives and undermines our freedom to choose. Libraries that have banned “The Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin are denying readers the right to examine multiple theories of religion and creationism.  The censor has already chosen a reader’s perspective for them; they are imposing their personal beliefs on readers.

Many schools have banned books by a popular author Judy Blume because she discusses the sexuality of an adolescent girl.  Other similar books and authors have also been stripped off library shelves.  A teen girl who will encounter sexuality in adolescence is limited when particular books concerning sexuality are banned. Although she may be exposed to sexuality through other media, she has still fewer avenues for exploring her sexuality.

When we are not allowed to read certain books, many social experiences are closed from us. An author’s reaction to slavery or a character’s struggle with homosexuality are social experiences, whether fictional or not, that help define who we are. Censorship strips us of our understanding, our past and heritage.

Censorship is built on a principal belief: that once people read a book, they will adopt the ideas presented in the book or will somehow be corrupted by them. Just because you read something, doesn’t mean you believe it or subscribe to it. An institution that censors in any form, whether it is an elementary school or a university, is teaching its students to dismiss intellectual freedom and to devalue their rights to access information and express ideas.