Maus banned 1 1

[diva_tsarina]

Glad I don’t live in Tennessee…

"I'm kind of baffled by this,… I also understand that Tennessee is obviously demented," said Spiegelman. "There's something going on very, very haywire there."

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/01/26/tennessee-school-board-bans-holocaust-comic-maus-by-art-spiegelman.html

[zhamlau]

I’ve heard conflicting reports on this online. What is the book’s status in the school? Like has it been removed from the library?

Edited January 30, 2022 by zhamlau

[John E.]

I like the first response he gave in a live interview with CNN that went something like, “At first I was trying to see their POV and then I was trying to convince myself they weren’t Nazis.” 

[namisgr]

On 1/30/2022 at 9:22 AM, zhamlau said:

I’ve heard conflicting reports on this online. What is the book’s status in the school? Like has it been removed from the library?

It's been removed from the curriculum.  Heaven forbid that junior high school students learn about the facts and atrocities of the Holocaust, especially considering the ever dwindling number of survivors of those who fought in WW II to defeat genocide, religion-based bigotry, and fascist rule.

Edited January 30, 2022 by namisgr

[gadzukes]

I remember when Maus came out in the early 90s.  A friend recommended it and I devoured it (I wish I still had that original copy, but I had the habit of giving great books like that away to friends so they could read it).  History class was my least favorite class in High School (bad teacher), so my grasp of WWII was hazy except for "Nazis bad, US & allies good".  I had no nuance or depth to what was going on. You don't get that from watching reruns of Hogan's Heroes.  I was out of HS when this Maus came out, but I remember thinking it should be required reading for students.  The Graphic Novel format really worked for an Attention Deficit guy like me.  Remember how impactful Schindler's List was?  Well Maus came out 2 years before that film and was just as impactful to me.

Tennessee???  

Edited January 30, 2022 by gadzukes

[Rick2you2]

Apparently, it started with some parents objecting to 8 words and a picture. Then, one of the Board members decided that 8th graders should generally be protected from anything involving the Holocaust. I wonder if 8th graders are taught about our use of internment camps for Japanese Americans?
 
Remember the controversy about Huckleberry Finn and the use of the word “N****” before Jim? Same fundamental problem.
I guess that’s why they still read Shakespeare in schools. The language is too archaic for the parents to pick up on all the naughty slang and naughtier concepts. 

[vodou]

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”–George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905.

[DocGo]

This whole story has been sensationalized. The book wasn’t banned, it’s simply being replaced in a lone subject’s curriculum (8th grade language arts). In fact, it may not be replaced at all if the school district can’t find a better alternative.

The good part about this is that more Maus books are being sold which is never a bad thing.

[Hockeyflow33]

On the flip side, these are children who are 12. If you read the quotes the decision-makers thought it wasn't age appropriate so it's not a banning so much as probably not the right age group. 

Everything is so polarized, the board members went out of their way to say how important and valuable the book is. There's no reason to call them Nazi's, (which completely diminishes the horrors of the very book people are claiming to support).  

[Ryan.]

On 1/30/2022 at 10:16 AM, gadzukes said:

I remember when Maus came out in the early 90s.  

1986 is when the collected editions were released. I still have my copies that I bought over twenty years ago. 

[grapeape]

On 1/30/2022 at 8:09 AM, Rick2you2 said:

Apparently, it started with some parents objecting to 8 words and a picture. Then, one of the Board members decided that 8th graders should generally be protected from anything involving the Holocaust. I wonder if 8th graders are taught about our use of internment camps for Japanese Americans?
 
Remember the controversy about Huckleberry Finn and the use of the word “N****” before Jim? Same fundamental problem.
I guess that’s why they still read Shakespeare in schools. The language is too archaic for the parents to pick up on all the naughty slang and naughtier concepts. 

To your point they just removed To Kill a Mockingbird in Missouri. It’s allowed in the library but not the classroom. The language is frank and real. A must read for understanding that time period. Deemed offensive.

Many of these choices will not be undone. What the hell are we doing?
Maus should be read by the  students in my humble opinion. 

As Janes addiction sang in my youth 

       NOTHINGS SHOCKING

 

 

 

Edited January 30, 2022 by grapeape

[New School Fool]

On 1/30/2022 at 5:35 PM, Ryan. said:

1986 is when the collected editions were released. I still have my copies that I bought over twenty years ago. 

I had a feeling @gadzukes timeliness was off.

I first came to know about Maus as an eight year old in the late 80s. I had joined my local library which came with a well stocked graphic novel section. I was even  more intrigued as they only let people of 13 years and older borrow graphic novels! 'Comics for adults' I thought,  bring it on! Well, I avoided reading  Maus at that time as it looked way too depressing. Thankfully after 30+ years, I was still into graphic novels and managed to pick up a collected edition.

[namisgr]

On 1/30/2022 at 12:31 PM, Hockeyflow33 said:

On the flip side, these are children who are 12. If you read the quotes the decision-makers thought it wasn't age appropriate so it's not a banning so much as probably not the right age group. 

Everything is so polarized, the board members went out of their way to say how important and valuable the book is. There's no reason to call them Nazi's, (which completely diminishes the horrors of the very book people are claiming to support).  

Eighth graders are age 13-14.  It's a perfectly appropriate age to introduce them to historical milestones of the past century, including atrocities of genocide and fascism over which World War II was fought.

 

Edited January 30, 2022 by namisgr

[Randall Dowling]

To quote Neil Gaiman "There's only one kind of people who would vote to ban Maus, whatever they are calling themselves these days."

[grebal]

Isn't this a repeat episode of dueling narratives?

[Gatsby77]

We read both Diary of Anne Frank and John Hersey's Hiroshima in my 7th grade English class.

To say that Maus isn't appropriate for 8th graders is preposterous.

[John E.]

Here’s what Spiegelman actually said:

”I’ve moved past, um, bafflement, to trying to be tolerant of, uh, people who may possibly not be Nazis. Maybe?”

  

No one throws better shade than the OG creator of Garbage Pail Kids. And what were GPKs if not shade toward American culture and what it became in the 80s?

[Rick2you2]

On 1/30/2022 at 3:17 PM, Gatsby77 said:

We read both Diary of Anne Frank and John Hersey's Hiroshima in my 7th grade English class.

To say that Maus isn't appropriate for 8th graders is preposterous.

Excessive and inappropriate sensitivity is the biggest problem, with a little leaning towards those “nice white men in their clean white sheets”.

[The Voord]

On 1/30/2022 at 4:09 PM, Rick2you2 said:

Apparently, it started with some parents objecting to 8 words and a picture. Then, one of the Board members decided that 8th graders should generally be protected from anything involving the Holocaust. I wonder if 8th graders are taught about our use of internment camps for Japanese Americans?
 
Remember the controversy about Huckleberry Finn and the use of the word “N****” before Jim? Same fundamental problem.
I guess that’s why they still read Shakespeare in schools. The language is too archaic for the parents to pick up on all the naughty slang and naughtier concepts. 

Minorities dictating to the majority?  History shouldn't be airbrushed out . . . it's there to learn lessons from.

[gadzukes]

On 1/30/2022 at 12:35 PM, Ryan. said:

1986 is when the collected editions were released. I still have my copies that I bought over twenty years ago. 

Yeah, my timing was off..... I was given the book to read by a coworker "back in the old days"   It must have been the late 80s.

It really made an impact on me.

Edited January 30, 2022 by gadzukes