A group of students and teachers in southern California are speaking out against their school district’s decision to ban Toni Morrison’s classic novel The Bluest Eye.
The Colton Joint Unified School District in San Bernardino County, Calif., voted to remove Morrison’s novel from its reading list for English classes earlier this month, the Mercury News reports.
The novel, Morrison’s first, was banned for its depiction of sexual violence. Four school board members voted to axe the book, with two opposing the decision and one abstaining.
“There is some graphic sexual violence depicted in the book, which is concerning for some students and families. Our board was concerned about making it a required reading for students but at the same time, the book is still available to students,” said Katie Orloff, the school district’s communication director, reports the Inland Empire Community News.
In a news release, a group of students and teachers from the school district said they plan to protest the decision at a school board meeting tonight.
School board member Dan Flores, who opposed banning the novel, said he was “disappointed” to see the novel removed from the reading list.
“There are dozens of books on the list that deal with controversial issues,” he said. “Yet the only one being removed is by Toni Morrison, one of the most prominent black female authors of recent time. Her literature speaks to the African American experience in America and I could not personally support removing one of her books from our reading list altogether.”
Michael Schaub is an Austin, Texas–based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
