I come from a race of people for whom at one time in this country it was illegal to be taught to read…white people who taught Black people how to read were taking the risk of being punished…I think the same sensibilities that informed those people to make it a criminal act for Black people to read are the ancestors of the same people who are making it a criminal act for their own children to read and I don’t see a great deal of difference between that. There is some hysteria associated with the idea of reading that is all out of proportion to what…in fact happens when one reads.
Full speech (Morrison begins speaking around the 27 minute mark)
There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.
We have an issue in this country, specifically when it comes to young adults, that we assume that there are topics that are too heavy for them to read or to understand. I am not a believer of that... There is this belief that if we keep these things away from the youth, that they won’t indulge in them, when the reality is [that] us keeping resources, and us keeping these stories, away from them doesn’t stop them from going through the same situations. It just means that they don’t have the knowledge or the education to handle those situations in a way that can be best suited for them.
I had thought America was against totalitarianisms. If so, surely it is important for young people to be able to recognize the signs of them. One of those signs is book-banning. Need I say more?
[I]t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.