A school district in Tennessee has reversed its ban on Alex Haley’s Roots: The Saga of an American Family, the Tennessee Lookout reports.
Haley’s novel, published in 1976 by Doubleday, was inspired by the author’s genealogical research into his family. It follows Kunta Kinte, a Gambian man who is kidnapped and sold to enslavers, and his descendants in America. The novel, which won a special Pulitzer Prize, became a publishing phenomenon and was adapted into a hit television miniseries starring LeVar Burton, John Amos, and Ben Vereen.
Earlier this month, the book was banned by Knox County Schools in Tennessee. The district serves more than 60,000 students and includes the city of Knoxville, the third-largest city in the state. Carly Harrington, a spokesperson for the district, said at the time, “The decision made to remove Roots from school libraries is in no way a commentary on the literary or cultural value of the novel but the result of adherence to state law.” The law Harrington referred to, the Age-Appropriate Materials Act of 2022, mandates that school districts must remove books from their collection if they are found to be inappropriate “for the age and maturity levels of the students who may access the materials.”
Jon Rysewyk, superintendent for the district, said that Roots would return to school libraries. “There were discrepancies even among the legal experts I consulted regarding their interpretation of the relevant sections of the Tennessee Code and the referenced terms as they applied to Roots,” he said. “Removing any book from circulation is, and should be, an immense decision. Our intent will always be to err on the side of access, which is the decision I have made with regard to Roots.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
