On April 4, 2025, we learned that the U.S. Naval Academy removed nearly 400 books from its college library. Among the banned volumes are influential and award-winning books, including several key works in the study of religion in America that examine race, gender, and sexuality. In this webinAAR, several AAR member authors of the recently banned books discuss the dangers of the book banning and related efforts to censor, restrict, and control what students and the public can read, learn, and know.
Participants include Anthea Butler, Michael Eric Dyson, Robert P. Jones, Bryan Massingale, and Jim Wallis.
Books by AAR members who are among the banned books:
- Robert P. Jones White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity
- Jim Wallis America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America
- Michael Eric Dyson Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America
- Anthea Butler White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America
- Eddie Glaude Jr. Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul
- Bryan N. Massingale Racial Justice and the Catholic Church
- Rosemary Radford Ruether America, Amerikkka: Elect Nation and Imperial Violence
Guests
Anthea Butler | Butler is the Geraldine R. Segal Professor in American Social Thought, and chair of the department of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America.
Michael Eric Dyson | Dyson is the University Distinguished Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies and the Centennial Chair in African American & Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt University. He is the author of Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America.
Robert P. Jones | Jones is the president and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). He is the author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity.
Bryan Massingale | Massingale is the James and Nancy Buckman Chair in Applied Christian Ethics at Fordham University. He is the author of Racial Justice and the Catholic Church.
Jim Wallis | Wallis is the Chair in Faith and Justice and the founding director of the Georgetown University Center on Faith and Justice. He is the founder of Sojourners and the author of America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America.
Related Links
- Read the AAR Board Statement: AAR Denounces Book Bans and Threats to Academic Freedom
- April 4, 2025 NYT Article on Naval Academy Book Ban: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/us/politics/naval-academy-dei-books-removed.html
- April 11, 2025 NYT Article on Naval Academy Book Ban: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/us/politics/naval-academy-banned-books.html
- List of Books Banned by Naval Academy: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/04/04/us/250404-list-of-removed-books-from-nimitz-library.html
We invite you to take any or all of the following actions:
- Consider purchasing copies of books by our colleagues on the banned list for gifts or for donation to libraries and educational institutions.
- Subscribe to authors’ newsletters:
- Support AAR in its stand for academic freedom through membership or donations.
- Stay informed about issues of academic freedom and issues of educational censorship.
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