No puedes leer Harry Potter en español.
At least not on Laura Mallory’s watch. And not in Loganville, Ga.
Laura Mallory, a mother of four in Loganville, Georgia, went to bat in 2006 to convince the Gwinnett County to ban all Harry Potter books from classrooms and school libraries. Despite the fact that Mallory has never read any of the books (perhaps the one thing that we have in common), she believes that the fiction series is an “evil” attempt to introduce children to witchcraft and the Wicca religion.
J.K. Rowling has previously responded to such allegations on CNN by saying:
I absolutely did not start writing these books to encourage any child into witchcraft. I’m laughing slightly because to me, the idea is absurd. I have met thousands of children and not even one time has a child come up to me and said, “Ms Rowling, I’m so glad I’ve read these books because now I want to be a witch.”
And yes, this is the same Gwinnett County whose library board initially eliminated $3,000 set aside to buy Spanish-language fiction after residents objected to using taxpayer dollars on books which might be read by illegal immigrants. Days later, the board reversed its decision amid accusations of racism.
But fortunately, the Gwinnett County board exercised some common sense here the first go round and refused to ban the Harry Potter series from its school libraries. Mallory next went to the Georgia County School Board, which likewise refused to ban the series. Not satisfied with that ruling, Mallory sued in Superior Court. In June of this year, she again lost her case to keep the series off of the shelves. Mallory is apparently considering an appeal to federal court, funded by donations from like-minded souls.
Parents in other states have staged less spotlight grabbing efforts to ban the series. The books have been banned successfully in Michigan and Arkansas.
Have any of you encountered attempts to ban the book? Do you think banning is an appropriate response? Do you agree with Mallory’s assertions that the dark behaviors in the book can lead to dark behaviors in real life, such as school shootings?
Harry Potter, book banning, censorship, J.K. Rowling, Laura Mallory, Gwinnett County
August 16th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
I’m starting a petition to ban Laura Mallory.
Who’s with me?
August 16th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
I’ll sign! And I’ve never met her. That’s just so “Laura Mallory” of me, huh?
August 16th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
[…] who use religion as a way to to to censor Harry Potter and other books where characters use magic. Today, Kelly at Tiny Treasury, talked about Laura Mallory, one of the most famous anti-Potter mother… in the United States. She in June, she actually took her case to the Supreme Court, trying to get […]
August 18th, 2007 at 6:40 am
People like her are just trying to dumb down America. Books like Harry Potter are successful at enticing children to read. They educate our little ones and make them want to devour even more books. For people like Mallory, Harry Potter is like the gateway drug for knowledge.
August 19th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Harry Potter aside, trying to ban Spanish-language books from school libraries makes no sense and IS just another racist move. The large Latino population aside, when will Americans wake up and realize that our kids NEED to learn another language (or 4) in order to compete in a global marketplace. Banning foreign language materials just because they might end up in the hands of an ESL student is ridiculous. This just burns me up!
August 20th, 2007 at 11:06 am
[…] Pasa? August 20th, 2007 by Maddy Kelly, over on Tiny Treasury is reporting on efforts to ban Harry Potter books in Georgia […]