The Book of Negroes to be Burned on June 22?

The CBC reports that unless the name of Lawrence Hill's award-winning The Book of Negroes is changed, a Dutch group called Foundation Honor and Restore Victims of Slavery in Suriname is planning on burning the book to protest the use of the word "negro" in the title.

Author Lawrence Hill, winner of the Commonwealth Award and many other awards for The Book of Negroes, received a letter from Roy Groenberg on behalf of the group who are descendents of the former Dutch colony Suriname.  According to Groenberg, "We struggle for a long time to let the word 'nigger' disappear from Dutch language and now you set up your Book of Negroes! A real shame!"

Hill has responded by explaining that he based his title on an actual historical document that was used to record names of over 3000 slaves who were British Loyalists during the American Revolution who were evacuated by the British and sent to Nova Scotia.  Ship lists, physical descriptions of the slaves and where they were bound were included.  Hill's intention was to bring this little known piece of history to light. Explains Hill, "I have found that when given the opportunity to see what I am doing in this book and with this title, readers understand that the title is not intended to be offensive, but that it is used historically, to shed light on a forgotten document and on a forgotten migration."


This is not the first time there has been controversy over the title of  The Book of Negroes.  The US publisher opted for Someone Knows My Name, as did the Australian publisher. In Quebec the book is titled Aminata, the name of the main character.

Update:  Lawrence Hill's response to the controversy has been published by the Toronto Star entitled, What Lawrence Hill tells Dutch Group Planning to Burn his Book.

Further Update:  It seems that the Dutch group has missed the point of Lawrence Hill's book completely and have burned the cover.  Greg Hollingshead, chair of The Writers’ Union of Canada, in a press release stated, “The burning of books represents censorship at its worst. While we recognize the sensitivity over the use of the word ‘Negro’ in the book’s title, The Book of Negroes is a real document and Mr. Hill uses it deliberately to underscore the plight of African Americans being shipped from New York to Nova Scotia in 1783.”


There is still time to read a book or two for the Banned Book Challenge. Set your own goal to read any number of banned or challenged books up until June 30, 2011. Then, send us reviews, opinions, etc.  Please register, using the form on the link.

Book Burning Fans Flames of Hatred

Rev. Terry Jones, the pastor of a small non-denominational congregation in Gainesville, Florida has been threatening to burn 200 copies of the Koran, the Islamic holy book tomorrow, the anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre. Jones, the author of a book entitled Islam is of the Devil and the Dove World Outreach Center intended to create a bonfire on the church property.

Islamics and Christians alike are condemning the burning, along with world leaders and US generals who say this act could endanger US troops.

Yesterday, under growing pressure, Jones announced that he was calling off plans and implied that he had made a deal with the organizers of the construction of an Islamic centre near Ground Zero to agree to move the location if the Koran burning was cancelled. However, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf denied having spoken to Jones, stating, "I am surprised by their announcement. We are not going to toy with our religion or any other. Nor are we going to barter. We are here to extend our hands to build peace and harmony."

Today, the church's two websites were taken down by the web-hosting company Rackspace, on the grounds that the church has violated the terms of service with regard to a clause that forbids content that is "excessively violent, incites violence, threatens violence, or contains harassing content or hate speech; and creates a risk to a person's safety or health, creates a risk to public safety or health, compromises national security, or interferes with a investigation by law enforcement." Copies of Pastor Jones' book were available for order through the web site. To date, the church's Facebook page (Facebook account needed to view page) "International Burn A Koran Day" is still available along with many other group pages condemning the act.

CBS News and a number of other investigative reporters are now looking into the financial state of the church, mortgages, and the ebay store which is run out of church buildings, perhaps bringing more attention to the 50-member congregation and their pastor than was expected.

The American Library Association plans to read publicly from the Koran -- a reaction to the planned book burning -- from the steps of their headquarters in Chicago tomorrow at 1 p.m. Banned Books Week will launch on September 25 with readings from the Qur’an.

Update: While the pastor ended up not burning the Koran, a number of book burners around the world took up his cause. Pastor Terry Jones was also charged for the extra policing services needed because of his threat.

Toni Morrison Burn This Book

Toni Morrison's books have been challenged on a consistent basis. Hear what she has to say about censorship. According to an Associated Press article by Hillel Italie,

Morrison, 78, has long experience with censorship. Her novels "Beloved," "Song of Solomon" and "The Bluest Eye" have frequently been threatened with removal from library shelves — and sometimes pulled — because of sexual, racial or violent content.

Burn This Book is a collection of essays on censorship, edited by Toni Morrison and published in May 2009. Read a review at "Travels of a Bookworm" and check out the links, including one to an excerpt of Burn This Book.



Updated: Kathryn, one of our readers suggests that we sign the petition at The Right to Read. Thanks, Kathryn.

Join us in reading banned and challenged books. The Banned Book Challenge continues until June 30. Set your own goal.

Anniversary of Nazi Book Burnings

Where they have burned books, they will end in burning humans.

— German Poet Heinrich Heine, 1820

The TribStar of Terre Haute, Indiana features Bruce's History Lessons which is about the Nazi book burnings. On May 10, 1933, the Nazi party in Germany held a nation-wide bonfire during which 25,000 books went up in flames. Anything considered "un-German in spirit" that did not line up with Germany's political and social goals was censored. The German Student Association developed an “Action Against the Un-German Spirit” campaign that saw student members of the Nazi Party participating in town by town book burnings. Censorship eventually began to be applied to more than books and included “un-German” music, paintings, photographs, plays, films, newspapers and magazines. were banned or censored, and then religious groups, cultural institutions and political parties.

As Bruce Kaufmann puts it so eloquently,

And finally, as Heinrich Heine predicted a century earlier, Jews and other “un-German” people (gypsies, Slavs, the mentally and physically handicapped) were themselves banned, censored, and — in the crematoriums at Auschwitz, Dachau and elsewhere — burned.

Don't forget to check out the Pelham Public Library's "Banned Book Challenge."

Cuba and Freedom to Read

I leave for Cuba in two days. It may be interesting to see what differences there are in our perception of "Freedom to Read." I will be in an academic setting, so I will try to ask questions about censorship and let you know what I have observed. From my understanding, there are librarians, then there are librarians in Cuba. Some adhere to the state's restrictions while others keep private libraries from which they lend prohibited books. For more information on Cuba, visit our friends at Freadom. Included on the site is a list of the top ten books burned in Cuba.

Check out our "Banned Book Challenge."

Ideas Don't Burn

In a press release dated January 23, 2007, authors and librarians are urging people to "Read a Burned Book."

Some of the most famous Cuban writers have joined with the head of Cuba’s major independent library group in endorsing a new “Read A Burned Book” campaign, aimed at getting high school and college students to read the books which Fidel Castro has ordered burned. An organization named Freadom has information and links on how you can support this campaign.

“Castro can destroy everything, except for books,” said legendary Cuban revolutionary and author, Carlos Franqui. “He may censor, ban or even burn them, but the ideas contained in books can never be destroyed.”

Lego People Burning Books in the Bible

Here is an example of what happens when someone with too much Lego has too much time on their hands.

The content of The Brick Testament is rated for Nudity, Sexual Content, Violence, and Cursing. The web site claims, "242 stories with 2,758 illustraions. More to come..."

In case you were wondering, this particular story is rated N for Nudity and V for Violence.

A Strange Protest?

Last week students at a Melbourne University, in an attempt to bring attention to a book banning, gathered for a book burning ceremony outside of the library. The small group of students were protesting the federal government sedition laws and the banning of two titles -- Join the Caravan and Defense of Muslim Lands -- by Abdullah Azzam. Pages from a handful of books were burned symbolically.

As reported in one news article, the Classification Review Board found that the books justified Jihad and promoted and incited terrorism.

Student Union president Jessie Giles stated, "These books are relevant to our studies and we have a right to access them ... we're all mature adults here and can make up our own minds." The students are making the materials available online.

What do you think about burning books to make a point?
Do you see any difference between the banning of books that incite terrorism and the banning of hate literature?
What do you think about Canada's stand on hate literature?