Book Banning

Book banning by the government should not have ever been done.  Everyone should be able to write and read whatever they want.  It is your choice to read it or not read it.  We have freedom of speech, which means we should have the right to write what ever we want.  Banning classic novels that were written years ago and have been read by the past generations, is like banning well- known art.  Banning Huckleberry Finn is like banning a piece of history.  We can not change history.  What if Manet's painting Olympia was banned, it does show a naked woman and an african-american woman shown as her slave.  The painting was painted when it was socially acceptable and same goes for Huckleberry Finn and people need to understand and accept that.  Keeping pieces of history from the younger generations is just wrong.  Book banning was done by the Nazi's in Germany and by the communists in Russia.  Haven't we gotten past this?  

I can see that people for book banning want to spare children from reading any racist, sexual or any religious beliefs in books, but I believe it is up to the parents to keep them from books with this kind of content if the choose too.  Take television or the internet, they both have content that is not suitable for children and in this situation it is the parents job to set the parental controls.  The situation should be the same for books.  I am aware that it is not as easy as a click of a button, but come on, how hard is it to take the book away from your child.  If worse came to worse and the child read the book anyway, do you really think it is going to change their lives that much? It is a book for God's sake, I have forgotten the content of all the books I read when I was I child.  By the time they are in their teens or even younger the will be exposed to the horrors of American society anyways.  So, why not get them ready for it.  The topics that cause banning are not of anything to make a fuss about anyways, such as, certain words or messages.  

Take Harry Potter for an example,  it is completely ridiculous that people believe that a story for children that mention witches and spells is considered evil and that children will not be able to distinguish between good and evil.  It it obvious that the only people who believe this are religious freaks.  Why cant people just see it as fantasy and ignore it so children can enjoy it.  If we ban Harry Potter books because of this reason, then we might as well ban witch costumes to be worn by children on Halloween.  Where does it end?