NCAC Demands Artspace Restore Artwork Featuring Native American Swastika Symbols
Artist Steven Leyba was ordered to remove his paintings despite the fact he was using the symbol to reclaim its original significance in Native American culture.
Artist Steven Leyba was ordered to remove his paintings despite the fact he was using the symbol to reclaim its original significance in Native American culture.
By choosing to remove the book, a precedent is set for the success of future book challenges that place objectionable content over pedagogical merit.
The groups emphasize that the mere presence of explicit language and violence in a book provides no justification for its removal.
Were institutions like Lincoln Center to yield to calls for cancellation coming from the BDS movement or elsewhere, any ensuing conversation would be much impoverished and further polarized.
NCAC and AAUP argue that the bill will create more problems than it solves, burdening universities with provisions that existing free speech protections already account for.
The organizations express grave concern that the Executive Order will have a broad and far-reaching impact on artists’ freedom of movement and, as a result, will seriously inhibit creative freedom, collaboration, and the free flow of ideas.
The award will be presented at the 2017 American Library Association Annual Conference during its Opening General Session on Friday, June 24, in Chicago.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has hired Christopher M. Finan as its next executive director. Joan Bertin, the current executive director, is stepping down after leading the organization for 20 years.
NCAC has issued a statement signed by several national and international organizations, opposing the Walker's decision to dismantle and destroy the controversial sculpture.
The groups underline that the First Amendment protects a student’s right to receive and possess literature, as long as the books in question do not cause disruption to the educational process.
A public school, the letter argues, has a responsibility to prepare young adults “to exercise the responsibilities of citizenship by promoting democratic values such as free expression, tolerance, and diversity—including diversity of opinion.”
NCAC argues that keeping children from viewing artistic representations of nudes does not ‘protect’ them; rather, it imposes the religion-based view that the nude human body is shameful.
The groups’ letter underlines that the hasty removal of the book, after a single complaint, sets a harmful precedent that could leave an entire curriculum in tatters.
The letter demands a public apology from the City of Burnsville and urges the City to develop a formal policy governing artistic programming at the Ames Center to ensure it is in compliance with First Amendment requirements.
As an organization committed to defending authors’ free expression and the right to read, NCAC was selected by HarperCollins employees to receive a donation as part of its #WhyIRead campaign, which pledges to donate $200,000 to charities supporting causes that are important to HarperCollins.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and Lambda Legal are calling on a Tennessee high school to apologize for removing a displayed student artwork featuring the word “GAYDOM” and a rainbow motif. The groups demand the drawing be immediately restored, arguing that the school’s justification for the removal-- that some students were offended by the artwork-- violates the student artist’s First Amendment rights.
The notion that the mere presence of inappropriate language and allegedly suggestive images is justification for a book’s removal sets a harmful precedent that, for example, a classic work of literature that contains adult language, or an art history textbook that includes a nude, should also be kept away from teens.
The groups maintain that although the school should and must aim to create a positive learning environment free from racism and hostility, the decision to cancel the play fails to further this objective
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and 7 other organizations committed to defending the freedom to read are urging a Arizona school district to reinstate Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner in its English curriculum after the book was removed without explanation or prior review. The groups argue the district’s decision is unwarranted and does an educational disservice to its students by depriving them of access to a novel that explores salient and timely themes.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and 6 other organizations committed to defending the right to read are urging a North Carolina school district to reinstate a children’s book in a 1st grade anti-bullying lesson plan after it was removed following pressure from local Republican lawmakers concerned about its gender-nonconforming themes. The groups express concern that political and ideological motivations were behind the district’s decision to remove the book.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and other organizations committed to defending the freedom to read are urging New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu to veto a bill requiring schools to notify parents prior to the teaching of materials with information about human sexuality. The groups argue the bill will stigmatize the teaching of educationally valuable materials and undermine the quality of education in New Hampshire.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and the American Society of News Editors (ASNE), along with more than 75 other organizations committed to the First Amendment right of freedom of speech and the press, condemn efforts by the Trump administration to demonize the media and undermine its ability to inform the public about official actions and policies. In a joint statement released today, the groups stress that the administration’s attacks on the press pose a threat to American democracy.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California are urging a California High School District to immediately redisplay an exhibition of paintings celebrating Black History Month. The exhibition was abruptly terminated after it was deemed to be politically charged. The groups are also asking the school district to put policies in place that prevent future viewpoint discrimination against artworks.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and close to a dozen other organizations committed to defending free speech and the arts are condemning the decision of the Architect of the Capitol to remove a student painting displayed on Capitol Hill after it sparked controversy for its alleged anti-police message.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and other organizations committed to defending the freedom to read are urging New Hampshire legislators to reject a proposed bill that would require schools to notify parents prior to the teaching of materials with information about human sexuality.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and other organizations dedicated to defending free expression are voicing concern over recent calls to boycott the publisher Simon & Schuster because one of its imprints – Threshold Editions – is publishing a book by the controversial conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is urging a Virginia school district revise its policy for responding to challenged books after it initially censored and then decided to reinstate two literary classics-- To Kill A Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn— from classrooms and libraries because a parent complained about the presence of racial slurs.
On the occasion of Human Rights day, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is announcing the launch of CENSORPEDIA, a crowdsourced Wiki, cataloging over 1,200 individual censorship incidents throughout history.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is defending the place of two masterpieces of American literature-- To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn-- in Virginia schools after the books were removed from classrooms because they contain racial slurs.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is again defending Stephen Chobsky’s young adult novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, after Iowa parents labeled it “obscene” and pushed for its removal from local classrooms.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is calling on a Washington State daycare subsidy program to revise a requirement that considers books with “frightening images” inappropriate for children.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is urging a Tennessee school to reject calls from a local parent to remove a textbook from a 7th grade curriculum because of its sections on Islam she claims are “indoctrinating.”
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is calling on the Virginia Board of Education to reject a regulation requiring schools to notify parents whenever books and textbooks containing “sexually explicit materials” are taught.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has responded to a Columbia University independent student-run radio station’s censorship of an invited author because her reading did not match the university’s “values.”
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is urging a Virginia high school district to repeal its prior restraint policy for student newspapers.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has expressed concern over a Florida school district’s decision to require student athletes to first attain parental permission if they wish to protest during the national anthem.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is leading a coalition of 6 free speech organizations in denouncing an Oregon theater group’s boycott of a nearby bookstore over a book display deemed racially offensive.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and a group of free speech advocates are coming to the defense of popular, but frequently censored, books, urging school officials to leave them in the school library.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) are urging the University of Wisconsin-Stout to reverse a proposal to place historic paintings depicting First Nations peoples into storage because some claim that they reinforce negative stereotypes of Native Americans.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is leading a coalition of groups which on August 1st sent a letter to a Virginia school board addressing claims that award-winning contemporary novels contain “pornographic” material.