During the 2023-2024 school year, 36% of all banned titles featured characters or people of color and a quarter (25%) included LGBTQ+ people or characters.
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(NEW YORK)– Author and philosopher Ryan Holiday had a scheduled lecture canceled at the US Naval Academy last week, after he refused to remove slides from his presentation critical of the academy’s removal of nearly 400 books about race and gender from its main library. In response, Jonathan Friedman, Sy Syms managing director of PEN America’s U.S. Free Expression programs, said:
“The Naval Academy is becoming known not only for banning books, but also for cancelling someone for planning to discuss the banning of books. This is a tragic new low. Cancelling a speaker in this manner violates the principles of freedom that higher education in the United States is meant to stand for and sends a disquieting message to future military leaders about how to engage diverse viewpoints, Books are not the enemy; ignorance is the enemy.”
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.Contact: Malka Margolies, [email protected], 718-530-3582
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