Dear Farmington Board of Education. I’m Gabriel Ghannam, an intelligent, experienced 11th grade public school student. In English 11 this year, I, along with the rest of my class, read Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and did quite a few assignments relating to the plot of the book. After thoroughly reading through the book, I believe that Persepolis should not be banned because Satrapi aims to disprove the stereotype that Iran’s people are nothing more than terrorists. For some context, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is about her experiences during the Iranian Revolution in 1979. She goes into detail about the Shah of Iran being overthrown, and how it led to the Islamic Republic being created. She notes how this new Islamic Regime was oppressive, …show more content…
I’d even say we have to learn to forgive” (Satrapi 46). This quote has multiple possible interpretations, one being that the people of Iran, like all people, are able to forgive others for their wrongdoings and not immediately …show more content…
One good quote from the American Library Association reads, “If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable” (Brennan, Jr.). This quote explains that ideas that may be deemed controversial should not be banned just because some people find the material offensive, as it would be a violation of the First Amendment, the freedom of speech. Controversial topics exist, and simply avoiding them doesn’t dismiss the fact that they exist, and people may want to learn about some of these topics. Taking these forms of expression away from schools because a few people find them offensive isn’t fair to everyone else. Another good quote from USA Today reads, “High school is a tough time, and young people in particular pick up a book to escape reality or to make sense of the changing world around them - reading makes them feel safe enough to express how they feel. And making a book like Sanchez inaccessible hinders the representation young Latino readers need” (Erika L. Sanchez 3). Many teens, especially today, face mental health challenges that negatively impact them. One way that many of them use to help them escape reality for a little bit is reading. Persepolis and similar books explain people’s struggles and how that affected them, as