LeVar Burton did not mince words on Thursday when it came to his thoughts on banning books in schools. In fact, he had just one: “bulls—.”
The “Reading Rainbow” host stopped by “The View” in support of his new documentary, “Butterfly in the Sky,” named for the classic theme song of his show. While there, host Joy Behar made a point to call out how many books have been banned in schools lately, “especially about race, sexuality and basically American history.”
And, when she asked for Burton’s thoughts on the matter, he was ready.
“Bulls—,” he replied bluntly. “I’ll be absolutely candid and honest, it’s embarrassing that we are banning books in this country, in this culture, in this day and age. We have this aversion in this country to knowing about our past. And anything that is unpleasant, we don’t want to do deal with.”
Burton then added that, just because something’s unpleasant, doesn’t mean it should be ignored. In fact, ignoring it only allows it to persist.
“This is not going away. Nothing goes away, especially if you ignore it,” he added. “So read the books they’re banning. That’s where the good stuff is. If they don’t want you to read it, there’s a reason why.”
At the start of his interview, Burton noted that he was initially drawn to hosting “Reading Rainbow” precisely because it encouraged kids to read, particularly during the summer, when they weren’t required to do so for school. The host added that many thought the show was “counterintuitive,” considering it was a television show, but he disagreed.
“I believed it could be a really powerful ally, and that’s kind of what I built this part of my career on; using the prevailing technology to promote literature,” he said.
