美国国家公共电台 NPR--Banned Books: Author George M. Johnson on the need to tell all people's stories

Banned Books: Author George M. Johnson on the need to tell all people's stories

Transcript¹

George M. Johnson's young-adult memoir² All Boys Aren't Blue has become one of the most banned books in the U.S.

The book is about growing up Black and queer, and always feeling different but not having the words to express it. Over the past couple of years, at least 29 school districts have banned the book because of its LGBTQ content and for being sexually explicit³.

"Any time you write a book where you write about your truth, there are going to be people who want to silence that truth," Johnson, who uses they/them pronouns, tells Morning Edition's Leila Fadel.

PEN America, a group that advocates for freedom of expression, says more than 1,600 books about gender⁴ and race were banned in more than 130 districts between 2021 and 2022, in what it calls a growing movement to censor⁵ books in schools. Taken together, the bans impacted some 4 million students at more than 5,000 schools.

Johnson worries about schools censoring⁶ works like theirs.

"The curriculum that is being taught in most school systems is still heavily geared towards the straight, white, male teen," Johnson says. "And so when we now have the ability to put books into curriculum that tell other stories, that tell stories that are non-white, that tell stories that are non-heterosexual, they're trying to take them out across the board because, you know, it's like, 'Oh, my God, how dangerous would it be if young white teens had to actually learn about the other people who exist in society with them?'"

"All Boys Aren't Blue" is bigger than Johnson's story

Johnson's book is still on the shelves in the New Jersey⁷ school district where they grew up, even though it has faced challenges in their home state. They say that some of their former classmates are now high school teachers, and recognize the book's value for students who may be struggling with questions about their own identities.

"They're using the book and telling them, 'I had a friend in high school who's gone through what you're going through,'" Johnson says. "And so it became very relatable."

Johnson is glad to have written a book that might help others, but says watching it be banned has been bittersweet. They say that if parents don't want their own child to read it, they should opt⁸ them out rather than try to block all students — some who may really need the book — from accessing it.

"Students ... have publicly said on record that works like mine have saved their lives, works like mine have helped them name their abusers, works like mine have helped them come to terms with who they are and feel validated⁹ in the fact that there is somebody else that exists in the world like them," Johnson says. "And you want to remove that from them. I just think it's sad."

Johnson also knows that the actual content of All Boys Aren't Blue isn't under attack, because the people who want it banned most likely haven't read it.

"You can't attack something you actually don't know," they say. "And this is really just an attack on an ideology¹⁰, that just says that LGBTQ people shouldn't exist. And they want teens to feel unsafe and to feel silenced — and that is just something that I refuse to see happen again, because I lived as one that felt that way."

Johnson says the book has more supporters than critics

Johnson anticipated that their book would be challenged even before it published. They remember seeing Angie Thomas' novel The Hate U Give face bans years ago because it features profanity and racism¹¹, and saw it as a signal that their own book would also get caught up in controversy¹². (Thomas' book, published in 2017, has been among the top banned books nearly every year since its release.)

Johnson never expected the controversy around All Boys Aren't Blue to rise quite to this level, but says a lifetime of LGBTQ advocacy prepared them for the current conversation. Theirs is an important voice in the LGTBQ community — this year TIME magazine named them one of the 100 influencers shaping the next generation.

"I've been fighting for LGBTQ rights for as long as I can remember, because in turn I'm fighting for myself and fighting for people like me. This is just an extension of the advocacy work that I do," Johnson says. "Writing is a form of activism. ... And any time you do something that's a form of activism, there's going to be another side that doesn't like it."

While the book has its vocal¹³ critics, Johnson says they are far outweighed¹⁴ by its supporters, whom they've heard from at school board meetings and in written letters and recreated cover artwork.

"So the book ... is so much bigger than just my story," Johnson says. "And I'm watching it in real time help so many people, from parents to children to teachers to librarians, across the board. I just feel like the support is greater, and we just have to find ways to make sure that everybody sees that, too."

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

3 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

4 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

5 censor   

n./vt.审查，审查员；删改

参考例句：

• The film has not been viewed by the censor.这部影片还未经审查人员审查。
• The play was banned by the censor.该剧本被查禁了。

6 censoring   

删剪（书籍、电影等中被认为犯忌、违反道德或政治上危险的内容）( censor的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Therefore, exhibitors shall not make use of these materials before censoring. 展商在审查前不可使用这些资料。
• The company then said it would end self-censoring search results, putting it at odds with Beijing. 随后该公司表示，将停止自我审查搜索结果，从而与中国政府发生对抗。

7 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

8 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

9 validated   

v.证实( validate的过去式和过去分词 )；确证；使生效；使有法律效力

参考例句：

• Time validated our suspicion. 时间证实了我们的怀疑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The decade of history since 1927 had richly validated their thesis. 1927年以来的十年的历史，充分证明了他们的论点。 来自辞典例句

10 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

11 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

12 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

13 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

14 outweighed   

v.在重量上超过( outweigh的过去式和过去分词 )；在重要性或价值方面超过

参考例句：

• This boxer outweighed by his opponent 20 pounds. 这个拳击选手体重比他的对手重20磅。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She outweighed me by ten pounds, and sometimes she knocked me down. 她的体重超过我十磅，有时竟把我撞倒。 来自百科语句