More than 50 years after a North Dakota school district burned copies of Kurt Vonnegut’s ‘Slaughterhouse-Five,’ the anti-war novel is still being censored
The battle over the novel offers a window into America’s long-running fight over what students should be allowed to read.
In November 1976, the Drake school district in North Dakota decided to burn 32 copies of Kurt Vonnegut's anti-war novel, "Slaughterhouse-Five," in a school furnace. This decision came after a parent complained about profanity in the book, which was assigned to a sophomore literature class. The school district's action was met with outrage and comparisons to Nazi book burnings.
Kurt Vonnegut, the author, was both angry and saddened by the censorship attempt. He wrote to the school board, expressing that his books were not intended to promote "wildness" and that they advocated for kindness and responsibility. Vonnegut, a decorated World War II veteran, had fought against nations that burn books. The incident was not an isolated case, as "Slaughterhouse-Five" continued to face challenges in schools across the country.
In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on a similar case involving the island trees School District in Long Island, New York, which had objected to 11 books, including "Slaughterhouse-Five." The court ruled in favor of the students, but the decision was a mixed one, as it did not definitively settle the First Amendment issues.
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