The illustration photo taken in Los Angeles, California on January 27, 2022, shows a person holding something. The ban of his book for crude language was a bigger and stupider problem than any other, according to author Art Spiegelman.
The Tennessee school board voted unanimously to remove a Holocaust-themed graphic novel from its eighth- grade language arts curriculum, rekindling concerns of censorship of comics and other material aimed at teens and young adults. Art Spiegelman draws on his family's experience surviving a Nazi concentration camp. It was the first graphic novel to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1992 and is an example to make the case that the comics medium is capable of addressing serious themes in sophisticated ways.
Tennessee officials objected to the use of several words, including "damn," and the depiction of nudity in one particularly somber moment in the book, though several were quoted as having no particular objections to teaching about the Holocaust per se. The board's decision, which became public on the day before Holocaust Remembrance Day, raises more troublesome issues, coming amid widespread controversies surrounding the teaching of history in American schools.
The Holocaust Museum said thatMaus has played a vital role in educating about the Holocaust through sharing detailed and personal experiences of victims and survivors. Teaching about the Holocaust using books can inspire students to think critically about the past and their own roles and responsibilities today, which has become a major focus of conservative groups in recent years.
Jeff Trexler is the executive director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Since 1986, the CBLDF has defended comics creators, publishers and retailers against this kind of censorship. Our conversation has been edited to make it clearer.
Has the CBLDF been contacted about the situation in Tennessee?
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is reaching out. Typically, people bring us in when these proposals go through review, but in this case the Board made their decision and announced it as a foregone conclusion. They did not follow their own process. We have been discussing how to best engage.
What kinds of legal remedies are available for parents and students, or is it more about applying political pressure?
The Supreme Court didn't really decide the central issue, so the legal precedents around book removal are fuzzy. The protections of the First Amendment apply if a book is removed from the library. The courts often defer to state and local authorities when it comes to taking it out of the curriculum. That's why we're seeing so many of these situations around anti-CRT laws coming up in the context of curriculum, where the law is not settled.
Have these kinds of objections been raised before?
Even though the nudity in the book is the opposite of erotic nudity, the depiction of different groups, swear words, violence, and occasional nudity has been the subject of so many challenges. Their legalistic approach to foul language intrigued me. If a kid used this language in school, we can't give them books that use it. It's not the same as a kid yelling out his teacher in a book.
One of the most troubling objections was that someone didn't want Art Spiegelman to draw for Playboy because they didn't want the kids to see it. Cancel culture means different things to different people. His award-winning graphic novel should be ostracized because of work he did at one point in his career. Is this what we want to teach our children? It is a very negative and anti-American way to look at books.
What do you tell the authorities who object to certain words and images because they think they are inappropriate for kids?
There are objections to the use of comics arts in the curriculum. The assumption is that comics are not easy to read. They thought it was for a third-grade reading level, which it is not.
There are calls to remove graphic novels from the curriculum because people fear the power they see in the combination of words and pictures. When you combine bad words with pictures, it's more objectionable to them than seeing it in print. We are seeing that in a lot of schools. They don't just say it's problematic in itself when they discuss bad language, violence and nudity. They see it as promoting violence. They think representation makes it real. It is a serious misinterpretation of how comics work. It's not serving anyone because it's a pre-21st century way of reading images. Kids will be left out if they can't make sense of visual communication.
Is this move part of a recent pattern? What have you observed about the trajectory of censorship cases over the last few years?
It is definitely a rising tide. When Youngkin won on the basis of making an issue out of local educational curricula, it was clear that we would be dealing with a wave of this in 22. It is a viable wedge issue that crosses demographic and ideology.
Is any work safe if they get a book of the stature and historical reputation of Maus?
No. No work is safe. You have to be prepared because every argument you make against Maus could be used against other works. Lots of classics have the same kinds of objections that could be raised. It's a pincher moment because both sides recognize that comics are the template for literacy in the 21st century and there are people coming for them from across the ideological spectrum.
What can parents and citizens do to keep this kind of censorship out of their communities?
It takes a lot of courage. People need to speak up. Before the school board meetings. They need to tell how much they value the material. If they get one complaint, they take action. The true diversity of the community needs to be shown. Engagement needs to start from the beginning. We who defend the material are made to be ashamed. They want to make people afraid to put it on the shelves. It should be the way around. We need to get people to be ashamed of raising these objections. That is not what this country stands for. Help people understand by getting involved. We can do that before controversy starts.
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