Censorship: The Board Of Education V. Pico

Censorship is a common occurrence in modern society. Nearly every form of media is censored from books, magazines, TV shows, movies, and the news. Censorship has developed over many years and existed even in ancient societies. Socrates, from ancient Greece, is a famous example of censorship. He was accused of “corrupting the youth of Athens” (History) and therefore sentenced to death by poison when he did not conform to the orthodox views and morals of his society at the time. Ancient Greece isn’t the only form of censorship, America and many other countries has some form of censorship. While all of these countries’ government may differ, they all have their own laws and regulations regarding books,news, and other public display of information.

The case is known as the Board of Education v. Pico. The Board of Education wanted any literature that was deemed “anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Sem[i]tic, and just plain filthy,”(Legal Information Institute) to be removed from high school, and middle school libraries. The students then brought the Board of Education to court, claiming that the Board violated their first amendment rights. Court, however, ruled in the Board’s favor. This limitation of the first amendment is the beginning of censorship in not only public areas, but books and other medias. The Communications Decency Act (1996) was a major act made by America’s government that restricted countless cases of obscene material. Originally, the act restricted pornography on the internet, throughout the course of time, however, the Communications Decency Act was used to limit speech and other forms of

Cultural appropriation is defined by Susan Scafidi as “Taking intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, or artifacts from someone else's culture without permission. This can include unauthorized use of another culture's dance, dress, music, language, folklore, cuisine, traditional medicine, religious symbols, etc. It's most likely to be harmful when the source community is a minority group that has been oppressed or exploited in other ways or when the object of appropriation is particularly sensitive, e.g. sacred objects.” Many novels, music, artwork, fashion, and even performers have been accused of cultural appropriation. Katy Perry, a pop singer, dressed up as a traditional geisha during one of her performances. Almost immediately, Perry was called out for her offensive attire. Katy Perry, of course, did not wear a traditional kimono to offend people. She used it as a part of her performance, a form of art, and its purpose was for not only aesthetic but also for the meaning behind her