#BannedBooksWeek is now through Saturday. We're closed Sundays, so look elsewhere until Monday. ๐ #JKRowling's #HarryPotter series & the "Complete Book of Ethnic Jokes" are going to be a difficult pair to discuss. Let's begin... Banned? Canceled? Both? Something else? The Complete book of Ethnic Jokes isn't necessarily a #bannedbook. Simply put, much of society has agreed that it isn't cool to pick on people for no reason, so there's little interest in this kind of thing, now. To me, the funniest thing about #ethnicjokes is that they're nearly 100% interchangeable. J.K. Rowling & her Harry Potter series have had their share of challenges. Bans for witchcraft & violence are typical among books for children & young adults. As the series' characters grew their adventures also matured, & "sexual overtones" were added as a reason to ban them. Since finishing the main series, the author has expressed personal opinions regarding gender identity which are not expressed within the books. In fact, many readers had considered certain characters "identity allies" prior to Rowling's comments. Then #cancelculture kicked in. There's a big difference between a "cancel" & a "ban". A ban is censorship & removes your choice. Canceling is your own choice. But, there's a problem; e.g.: "I don't like peas. They're canceled from my plate. Many people agree with me. You shouldn't have peas, either." The pea-canceller, who has a choice, shifted gears to become a pea-censor & wants to remove that choice for others. What if it was carrots? Potatoes? Corn? I really like corn - it's got the juice - when I tried it with butter everything changed! Let people learn things, like how great corn is, or how dumb ethnic jokes are. Some things eventually just ban themselves... without #FreedomToRead, you might miss out on something that could make life great! (at Bonnett's Book Store) https://www.instagram.com/p/CipBAxNu0Uj/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
