Art Spiegelman Says 'Maus' Ban Is 'Harbinger of Things to Come'

[Behind the Aegis]

Art Spiegelman, the author of Maus, the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel depicting Polish jews who survived the Holocaust, has condemned the actions of a Tennessee school board who decided to ban the book due to concerns about profanity and an image of female nudity. Spiegelman called the ban "a harbinger of things to come."

The graphic novel—which was serialized from 1980 to 1991—tells the story of the cartoonist who was born in 1948, shortly after the end of the Second World War. He is speaking to his father, a Polish Jew, about his experiences as a Holocaust survivor. The graphic novel famously portrays Jews as mice and Germans as cats.

Spiegelman made the comments in a CNN interview on Thursday, January 27, which is also International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Holocaust saw the state-sponsored genocide by the Nazis of 6 million Jews across German-occupied Europe.

The Jan. 10 vote by the McMinn County School Board, which only garnered widespread attention on Wednesday, on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day. The board voted 10-0 to ban Maus from all of its schools, citing the book's inclusion of words like "God damn" and "naked pictures" of women, The Guardian reported. The controversial vote comes against the backdrop of multiple battles in school systems across the U.S. as Republicans crack down on curriculums over teachings about the history of slavery and racism in America.

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[Skittles]

1. correct

they won't stop, they need Jewish folk and POC and LGTQ to be invisible, their concerns and interests minimized and history whitewashed

[Ford_Prefect]

2. The culture of dominance falsely believes it is the pre-dominant culture.

An angry, frightened minority is no basis for the rule of law nor for governing a republic, let alone setting social standards of conduct or philosophy.