Censorship

In recent weeks, journalists have reported publishers’ decisions to rewrite the works of James Bond author Ian Fleming and children’s author Roald Dahl.

In the House of Commons, NDP MP Leah Gazan has proposed drafting a bill to ban the denial of genocide in Indian residential schools.

In Quebec, several editorials, op-eds and columns have denounced as censorship the provincial government’s request that schools refrain from “promoting” the young-adult novel Le garçon aux pieds à l’envers by renowned author François Blais because, in one chapter, an “evil spirit” is said to have prodded a teenage character to sip a lethal dose of gasoline.

Can we fight racism without chilling expression? The answer must be a resounding yes, but how can we ensure that schools and educators understand their responsibilities to protect their students from censorship and from discrimination both at once? It isn’t easy and it can’t be done in one lesson or even in one course. However, when we avoid discussing race and racism or other forms of oppression out of fear that we are going to be using or permitting the wrong language, or that our motivations will be misunderstood, we become part of the problem.