Fascist Busters: Diverse books thwart divide & conquer strategies
D
ivide and conquer. We’re all familiar with this expression, primarily in terms of empire building, colonization or military strategy. But it’s a useful tool for internal politics as well.
As poet Padraig O’ Tuama aptly phrases it:
You divide and conquer a population, so they fight amongst themselves, and you don’t have to.[1]
The divide and conquer tactic has been employed in this country to keep the powerful in power and the average citizens in check well before we became the United States of America.
One pre-revolution example is Virginia plantation owners. Historical evidence indicates that poor white servants and enslaved Black people initially saw each other as having a lot in common and sharing the same predicament.
It was typical for white servants and Black enslaved persons to drink together, steal hogs together, and form intimate relationships with one another. And, most importantly, groups of white servants and enslaved Black people are known to have shown their shared defiance by running away together.
To disrupt the community of common interest between poor white servants and enslaved Black people – and more importantly the power that would result from it – racial contempt was manufactured and used to drive a wedge between the two groups.[2] Sound familiar?
Book bans are an effective weapon
to divide & conquer
Book bans are an effective weapon in the arsenal of those who would benefit from division. Because, as Salman Rushdie observes:
Great writing makes a great noise in the mind, the heart.[3]
Literature gives us insight into people whose lives are different from our own. Books help us understand one another.
In doing so, they have the ability to cultivate a community of common interest. The result? We become resistant to the divide and conquer strategy we see so much of these days.
A dearth of understanding, and lack of common community interest, makes it easier for the seeds of division to take root. That’s why books that focus on diversity and inclusion are being targeted. To say nothing of the countless diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) endeavors being purged these days.
When divisive rhetoric is used – like describing a particular group of people as “vermin,” characterizing them as illegitimate, or portraying them as enemies – it’s always important to ask yourself who’s going to benefit from your animosity toward the targeted group.
As Octavia Butler admonishes us in The Parable of the Sower:
Embrace diversity.
Unite —
Or be divided,
robbed,
ruled,
killed.
By those who see you as prey.
Embrace diversity
Or be destroyed.[4]
We aren’t born with prejudices. They’re made for us, manufactured by someone who stands to profit from the division.
In the example above, it was the wealthy plantation owners who prospered. So… who’s benefitting from our division these days. Someone’s going to get something out of it, and it sure isn’t going to be any of us.
Restricting Information:
Companion of Divide & Conquer
Companion of the tried-and-true divide & conquer strategy is the restriction of information. And again, we’ve seen this tactic before. As abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher observed, in the antebellum south:
Slaveholders realized that allowing non-slaveholders access to information would disrupt their own fortunes, and thus imposed a strict system of censorship throughout the region.[5]
Beecher put the situation (both then and now) in a nutshell. He pointed out that ignorance (that is, lacking particular knowledge) can become an institution, one that can be legislated. With this in mind, consider the fact that legislation exists censoring K-12 curriculum in Florida, Indiana, South Carolina, Connecticut, and Texas just to name a few.
Fifty educational gag orders have been introduced in 16 different states as of February, 2023. One topic these bills prohibit teachers from addressing is sexual orientation and/or gender. These laws also proscribe teaching about race, racism, and difficult aspects of American history like native American boarding schools.[6]
The impact of legislation like this is that students are ignorant of events that took place in our country. That makes it impossible to know when elected officials (or those campaigning for office) are making distorted claims and re-writing history, spinning it for their gain.
The result of this tactic? We’re rendered docile. Because we don’t have enough information to see through their baloney and challenge it.
Author Margaret Atwood alerts us to the dangers of this scenario:
I had thought America was against totalitarianisms. If so, surely it is important for young people to be able to recognize the signs of them. One of those signs is book-banning. Need I say more?[7]
No. She doesn’t need to say more.
A sign of encroaching Authoritarianism
Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison hit the proverbial nail on the head when she pointed out:
Authoritarian regimes, dictators, despots are often, but not always, fools. But none is foolish enough to give perceptive, dissident writers free range to publish their judgments or follow their creative instincts. [8]
Because doing so would allow authors’ works to nurture the common community interest that would keep such authoritarian regimes from gaining traction.
Morrison went on to say:
The historical suppression of writers is the earliest harbinger of the steady away of additional rights and liberties that will follow. [9]
Bearing the repeal of Row v Wade in mind, and the increase in restrictive voting laws, not to mention the elimination of the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, Morrison’s observation appears to be terrifyingly spot on.[10]
This machine kills fascists
As a reminder of the power that words and music have against political ills, Woody Guthrie (you know, the guy who wrote This Land is Your Land) affixed a message on his guitar during World War II that said, This machine kills fascists.
Guthrie’s guitar was a fascist busting machine because, as Woody points out:
The song I sing will kill some old ideas. [11]
Books are fascist busters too. In an essay addressing the political use of language, George Orwell himself stated:
Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. [12]
And, in response to the question of why he writes, Orwell answered:
I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing. [13]
And, this is why books are fascist busters. Reading books with diverse characters lets us see through the lies designed to divide us. It enables us to recognize each other as people. It makes us aware that we have more in common than we are different. As a result, reading diverse books goes a long way towards cultivating common community interest.
And when that happens, we become resistant to the divide & conquer strategy typically employed by authoritarian types. But how do we resist when authoritarian tendencies have already gained traction in our society?
As Henry Ward Beecher significantly noted:
…knowledge is not only power… but powder also, liable to blow false institutions to atoms.[14]
And remember this sage advice from famed anthropologist Margaret Mead:
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.[15]
With that pearl of wisdom in mind, here are a few deep dives into books that address this very situation — works that nurture democracy, or show the impact reading and diverse literature can have in deflecting authoritarianism.
Be sure to check out our take on these fascist busting books. Read the works in their entirety. And arm yourself against the divide & conquer strategy so often used by authoritarian types.
The Handmaid’s Tale
Fahrenheit 451
The Giver
#banned books #Benefits of Humanities #on censorship
#Fahrenheit 451 #The Handmaid’s Tale #The Giver
#Fascist Buster
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Endnotes:
[1] O’ Tuama, Padraig. Public Lecture. John Danforth Center on Religion and Politics. March 3, 2025.
[2] Morgan, Edmund S. American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc, 2005. Pg 327-328.
[3] Rushdie, Salman. “Notes on Writing and the Nation.” Burn This Book. New York: Harper, 2009. Pg 80.
[4] Butler, Octavia. The Parable of the Sower. London: Headline Publishing Group, 2019.Pg 185.
[5] Beecher, Henry Ward. “Anti-Slavery Lectures,” The New York Times, January 17, 1855.
[6] Jonathan Friedman, Jeffrey Adam Sachs, Jeremy C. Young, Samantha LaFrance. “Educational Censorship Continues: The 2023 Legislative Sessions So Far.” Pen America. https://pen.org/educational-censorship-continues-in-2023/
[7] Taneja, Sehr. “These Were the Most Commonly Banned Books in America in 2021.” Katie Couric Media. August 12, 2022.
https://katiecouric.com/entertainment/book-guide/most-banned-books-america/
[8] Morrison, Toni. “Peril.” Burn This Book. New York: Harper, 2009. Pg 1.
[9] Morrison, Toni. “Peril.” Burn This Book. New York: Harper, 2009. Pg 1.
[10] Dobs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022). National Constitution Center. https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/supreme-court-case-library/dobbs-v-jackson-womens-health-organization
Christina A. Cassidy and Ayanna Alexander. “Supreme Court tossed out heart of Voting Rights Act a decade ago, prompting wave of new voting rules.” Washington News via Associated Press. https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-act-supreme-court-black-voters-6f840911e360c44fd2e4947cc743baa2
Press Release. “U.S. Department of Education Ends Biden’s Book Ban Hoax.” U.S. Department of Education. January 24, 2025.
[11] Woody Guthrie Center.
[12] Orwell, George. Why I Write. New York: Penguin – Great Ideas, 2005. Cover.
[13] Orwell, George. “Why I Write.” Why I Write. New York: Penguin – Great Ideas, 2005. Pg 8.
[14] Beecher, Henry Ward. “Anti-Slavery Lectures,” The New York Times, January 17, 1855.
[15] National Museum of American History. Smithsonian. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_1285394
Images:
Fascist Busters:Photo by Priscilla Du Preeze on Unsplash.com
Book Bans are an Effective Weapon: compiled from images by annie-spratt on unsplash.com, and john salvino 0n unsplash.com
Restricting Information: Photo by 2y.kang on Unsplash
A Sign of Encroaching Authoritarianism: Mussolini and fasces symbol
This Machine Kills Fascists: Public Domain.
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