The Censorship of Language

In Tucson, Arizona, Republican lawmakers John Huppenthal and Tom Horne recently banned the study of Mexico and its inhabitants, ruling such studies to be illegal because they supposedly went against a state law banning “racially divisive studies.” Multiple other pieces of curricula were also banned, including books such as “Critical Race Theory and The Words of Cesar Chavez.” The ban was eventually reversed, but its existence shows the lengths that lawmakers, schools, and figures of authority will go to censor underrepresented history and define how students should be molded based on the political dogma of the time.

Many students are taught in history classes that are extremely Americentric. Many times when the curriculum has been changed to reflect all perspectives of a story, educators face a pushback from conservative lawmakers, who believe that learning from a curriculum that includes often negative actions on behalf of the American government will lead to citizens becoming disenchanted with their country. This has led to a spike in the amount of publishers and educators trying to “fact-check,” or essentially censor certain parts of history, so we only hear one side of the story. This is shown especially in the state of Texas, where studies have shown that educators constantly look for opportunities to monopolize the textbook industry. The practice of banning these parts of history to glorify one’s country is a part of whitewashing and commonly used to block out the culture and history of the underrepresented minorities in U.S. history.

In fact, historical precedent has proven that our teachers and the school curriculum often overstep their bounds in teaching students what is and is not acceptable. For example, J.D. Salinger’s classic novel “Catcher in the Rye” was banned for several decades from being taught in school because of the writer’s usage of curse words. Although the school board’s reason behind this was well-intentioned, it is inevitable that students are eventually exposed to vulgar language. It is unreasonable for schools to control what we hear or set certain age limits for content. Ultimately, the school board’s attempts to censor what we hear in the school space are useless, as any restrictions are easily avoided in the public space.

Our 21st century society should realize that the censorship of words and ideas, particularly historical narratives which compete with traditional ones, has no place in a modern day school system. We need to reestablish what “freedom of speech” really means over two centuries after it was conceived.

Freedom of speech should not only be about letting people express themselves openly, but should also include being allowed to take part in any form of discourse you wish to converse in without being judged for the language being used or the topics being discussed. Yet we should not embrace the use of all words or ideas regardless of meaning. When using a word or discussing an idea, we must be able to understand the context and history from which the word or idea has been developed to comprehend the true value of what we’re saying and how it will affect the people around us. Understanding the history of a word or an idea has significance, as people will no longer judge the speaker negatively due to their newfound understanding of what they are saying. Adopting such a method of understanding the history of a word or an idea rather than alienation or isolation of certain parts of language is inherently more helpful to the way we think.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the intentions behind the use of a word or presentation of an idea must be considered and taken into account. There is always a possibility that the speaker didn't understand the meaning of what they were saying. Although history is important and so is the development of the word, when it is spoken, its current and contextual meaning is the only meaning that the listener hears and interprets it as.

Censorship may seem largely a vestige of the past, but society still continues to censor what it deems to be inappropriate and harmful. But, as shown in Tucson, Arizona and the governor’s censorship of ethnic learning material and the whitewashing that educators continue to use today, denying people the equal use of all language deprives us of engaging in meaningful discourse. One goes to school for an education that allows them to learn to the best of their ability, but a limited, censored education undermines the value of what education can allow them to truly be. Continuing to deprive ourselves of the true value of unlimited discourse will only continue to take away from our worldly education, which is just as important as the education we are exposed to in classrooms.