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Should books, comics, or magazines deemed 'racist' be banned?

Should books, comics, or magazines deemed 'racist' be banned?

  • No, that would infringe on free speech

    Votes: 39 92.9%

  • They should be banned from schools

    Votes: 2 4.8%

  • Older literature with outdated racial portrayals should have warning labels

    Votes: 1 2.4%

  • All literature should carry ratings for racist content, similar to movie ratings

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Yes, any literature deemed racist should be banned

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Other, please explain

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    42
MyOwnDrum said:
Why don't you take your personal beef with me to the basement? I'm sure you'd find some trash talkers there who would enjoy ripping me to shreds with profanity and disrespect.
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I can do it up here. Just as much fun and it only gets me gigged once or twice. Nothing to really care about. Besides, this way, everybody gets to see just how ignorant you are.

Meanwhile, the topic of this thread was whether 'racist' literature should be banned. The article, from a legitimate news source, talks about an older series which contained stereotypes of Africans that are outdated and racist by today's standards.

Do you think this type of thing should be banned?
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You're a troll. I give you 4 months until you get banned.
 
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Hatuey said:
I can do it up here. Just as much fun and it only gets me gigged once or twice. Nothing to really care about.



You're a troll. I give you 4 months until you get banned.
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You are taking this personally. It's really better not to hold grudges and get angry. Just click on the threads you like, and ignore the ones you don't like. Is that too difficult for you? :confused:

Apparently so...

I wish you well, and peace be with you.
 
digsbe said:
These books shouldn't be banned. People can get offended about anything, and if they're that immature then they are just as bad as the immature racists themselves. Everything has some quality to it that might offend a person.
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Very true. Everyone has a different standard as to what is offensive.
 
How would banning it in schools be considered infringing on free speech? You still have the right to write that book, read that book, talk about that book, or have your kids read the book outside of school. Having your book shown in schools is not a right guaranteed by the Constitution.
 
MyOwnDrum said:
You are taking this personally.
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Not really. What I am a little befuddled by is why you've been allowed to troll the forum with ridiculous threads and stupid questions for so long.

It's really better not to hold grudges and get angry. Just click on the threads you like, and ignore the ones you don't like. Is that too difficult for you? :confused:
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You're making yourself sound more important than you actually are.

Apparently so...

I wish you well, and peace be with you.
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Why don't you make a poll on how many people think you're an annoying troll?
 
To whomever said to ban them from schools, what books in particular would you ban?
 
Mellie said:
To whomever said to ban them from schools, what books in particular would you ban?
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Well, how do any books get chosen as appropriate or not appropriate for schools?
 
Porn, comics, the Bible/Quran/Talmud/etc, and anything written by Al Franken.
 
MyOwnDrum said:
This is an interesting case. It takes place in Belgium and concerns the old character Tintin. Apparently, some are offended by the book Tintin in the Congo and was written in the late 1920s. There's a good BBC video along with the article.

There's has been similar talk about Huckleberry Finn. I do believe it's been banned from some schools. What do you all think? I'm speaking of your general view of this issue, not specifically related to Belgium vs U.S. laws on free speech, but what how YOU think free speech should be applied in this type of scenario.

BBC News - Belgian bid to ban 'racist' Tintin in the Congo
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If people are offended by a product for any reason whatsoever, there's a very simple solution that doesn't require government involvement. That solution is not to buy it. If people don't want offensive products, then they won't pay for offensive products, and that will take money away from those people, which will make it tougher for them to earn a living and indirectly force them to put out product they can actually sell that isn't offensive.

Besides, one of these days I may want to purchase something others deem offensive or even racist, and if that's how I choose to spend my dollar then nobody should have the right to stop me.
 
samsmart said:
If people are offended by a product for any reason whatsoever, there's a very simple solution that doesn't require government involvement. That solution is not to buy it. If people don't want offensive products, then they won't pay for offensive products, and that will take money away from those people, which will make it tougher for them to earn a living and indirectly force them to put out product they can actually sell that isn't offensive.

Besides, one of these days I may want to purchase something others deem offensive or even racist, and if that's how I choose to spend my dollar then nobody should have the right to stop me.
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Speaking of which, every time there there's media expose over something 'offensive' like this, it always boosts sales.

Could BBC be in cahoots with the publishers of this book and is getting a kickback... ;)
 
Gipper said:
Porn, comics, the Bible/Quran/Talmud/etc, and anything written by Al Franken.
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:rofl

When I was in school they seemed to be obsessed with Edgar Allen Poe. :rolleyes:
 
misterman said:
Well, how do any books get chosen as appropriate or not appropriate for schools?
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Whatever the church says is ok. Heheh. But mostly it's arbitrary and completely based on the personal preferences and biases of the school board.
 
Mellie said:
How is that an answer to my question?
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It's not. But you don't really need one. It goes without saying that not all books are appropriate for schools. Well, that would include some racist books, obviously. Nothing new there. So librarians have to choose, as usual.
 
Ikari said:
But mostly it's arbitrary and completely based on the personal preferences and biases of the school board.
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Not necessarily, but yes, sometimes it is. Sometimes the school board doesn't even have anything to do with it, and leaves it to librarians, who are professionals in this sort of thing.
 
Mellie said:
There's a website called Parents Against Bad Books in Schools (Controversial and challenged books in schools--PABBIS) that has a list of books they think should be banned from schools. They have excerpts from those books. They're pretty darn graphic.
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The Bible has rape, incest, prostitutes, and the murder of men, women, and children, among other graphic depictions of socially unacceptable behavior. Let's ban that from schools too. Especially the Catholic ones.
 
misterman said:
It's not. But you don't really need one. It goes without saying that not all books are appropriate for schools. Well, that would include some racist books, obviously. Nothing new there. So librarians have to choose, as usual.
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And I asked what books specifically would you not want in school libraries?
 
It makes no sense to attempt to combat racism with censorship.
 
I would like to be able to research texts as needed.
 
By the standards of PC racism today, the Bible would be banned.
 
Mellie said:
And I asked what books specifically would you not want in school libraries?
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I don't know.

All I'm saying is it's appropriate to include racism as the criteria for not including a book in a school library. Not always, as I've noted, but sometimes. Is that controversial? Is the idea that not all books are suitable for children controversial? I firmly oppose banning books for adults.
 
I think the Anarchists Cookbook and The Poor Mans James Bond should be required reading in Jr. High.
 
Hatuey said:
His name is Bienvenu? :lol: Mr. Bienvenu? Mr. Welcome? Hahahahahahahahaha.

Either way, Belgian prejudice of Africans is nothing new and Herge is correct in saying it 'reflects' the prejudice at the time he wrote them. Specially when one considers the work of Leopold in the Congo. I do not think it should be banned but it should come with a warning label that there are racial stereotypes and offensive subject matter in the book. I've read some of the Tintin books and they are infested with racism. Asterix and Obelix are IMO far better in terms of story telling and artwork.
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Yeah, them Belgians did a bang-up job in Rwanda.

Hatuey (Gesundheit)... LOL.. the art critic...

.

.
 
misterman said:
I don't know.

All I'm saying is it's appropriate to include racism as the criteria for not including a book in a school library. Not always, as I've noted, but sometimes. Is that controversial? Is the idea that not all books are suitable for children controversial? I firmly oppose banning books for adults.
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You don't know any books that shouldn't be in schools?
 
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