Actor, activist, and 2023 Banned Books Week Honorary Chair LeVar Burton was a guest on MSNBC’s The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle on Monday to discuss the book bans and challenges that we’re currently facing in the United States. Burton said that the unprecedented increase in bans and challenges is “alarming,” but it has an upside: It’s forcing us to have a conversation about who we want to be as a nation.
“As a parent, I believe you should have the right to monitor and have a say in what your child consumes in terms of literature and media,” Burton told The 11th Hour host Stephanie Ruhle. “But what you don’t have is the right to impose your beliefs about your children on everybody else’s kids. Censorship is just not ok.”
“We have to have a no-nonsense conversation that involves common good, common sense,” he continued. “When people say there are no books being banned, they’re just ill-informed or being willfully ignorant.”
Watch the whole conversation below:
The conversation with Burton continues tonight, October 4, in a special live event on the Banned Books Week Facebook page. Join Burton and Banned Books Week Youth Honorary Chair Da'Taeveyon Daniels as they discuss banned books, the freedom to read, and more. The talk begins at 8 p.m. ET. See you there!
