Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

in
Song of Solomon
By Toni Morrison

A man in wings jumps off the hospital where an important baby soon known as Milkman is being born.

Banned

#72 on ALA's Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

1993  - Ohio - Challenged but retained in Columbus schools for "language degrading to blacks and is sexually explicit"

1994 - Georgia - Richmond County School District removed the book from reading lists and library shelves after a parent complained passages were "filthy and inappropriate"

1995 - Florida - St Johns County Schools in St Augustine challenged the book

1998 - Maryland - Complaints to St Mary's County schools referred to the novel as "filth," "trash," and "repulsive" and lead to challenges. A faculty committee recommended the book be retained, but the superintendent removed the book from the approved text list.

2009 - Michigan - The superintendent of Shelby school suspended the book from the curriculum. The book was reinstated but parents are informed in writing and at a meeting of the books content. Students who don't wish to read it can read an alternative.

2010 - Indiana - Parents of Franklin Central High School's Advanced Placement English class in Indianapolis were concerned about language and sexual content, but the book was retained.

Sources

ALA. "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009." Retrieved on 17 Aug 01 from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.

Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. Alfred A. Knopf. New York, 1977.

 

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"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Beloved by Toni Morrison

in
Beloved
By Toni Morrison

We read an award winning book about a ghost haunting the life of an ex-slave and then talk about ghosts in the library.

Banned

1996 - Texas - Challenged but retained for violence at Round Rock Independent High School

1997 - Maine - Challenged for language at the Madawaska School District

1998 - Florida - Challenged at the Sarasota County schools for sexual content

2000 - Illinois - After a board member promised to bring Christian beliefs to board decision making at the Northwest Suburban High School District 214, a number of titles were challenged and retained. The board member had based her decisions on excerpts from the Internet.

2007

Indiana - Parents asked for parental permission for student access for five books at the Coeur d'Alene School District

Kentucky - Pulled from the senior Advanced Placement English class at Eastern High School in Louisville after two parents complained of bestiality, racism, and sex. Students had to start over with Scarlett Letter for their AP exams.

2012 - Michigan - Challenged but retained at Salem High School Advanced Placement English classes after numerous considerations of district officials including appropriate for age, accuracy of the material, objectivity of the material, and necessity of covering the material.

2013 - Virginia - Challenged at the Fairfax County schools because parent complained for beastility, gang rape, and an infant's gruesome murder

2016 - Virginia - Came into focus during legislation over whether or not parents should be notified about school materials. Excerpts of the novel were read on the state senate floor depicting the novel as a work of, as Senator Richard Black put it, "moral sewage."

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

in
The Catcher in the Rye
By J.D. Salinger

Advice and ghosts are in the library as well as the classic novel about a whiny jerk going out on the town and learning that life if full of hypocrisy, even himself.

Banned

1960 - Oklahoma - Teacher was fired in Tulsa from an 11th grade English position for assigning the book. Teacher appealed and was reinstated but the book was removed from the school

1963 - Ohio - Columbus parents asked the school board to ban the novel for being "anti-white" and "obscene." The school board refused.

1975 - Pennsylvania - Removed from reading list after parents complained about the language and content. The book was reinstated after the school board vote, orginally 5-4, was deemed illegal as they required a two-thirds vote in favor to remove a text.

1977 - New Jersey - Challenged and the board ruled the book could be read in an advanced placement class with parental permission.

1978 - Washington - Issaquah school removed it from their optional reading list

1979 - Michigan - Removed from the required reading list at Middleville.

1980 - Ohio - Removed from Jackson Milton school libraries in North Jackson

1982

Alabama - Removed from Anniston High School libraries and later reinstated

Manitoba, Canada - Removed from school libraries in Morris along with two other books as they violate committee's guidelines covering "excess vulgar language, sexual scenes, things  concerning moral issues, excessive violence, and anything dealing with the occult."

1983 - Montana - Challenged at Libby High School due to the book's contents

1985 - Florida - Banned from English classes at the Freeport High School in De Funiak Springs as being "unacceptable" and "obscene"

1986 - Wyoming - Removed from Medicine Bow senior high school English reading list because of profanity and sexual references

1987 - North Dakota - Banned from a required sophomore English reading list at Napoleon High School after parents and the local Knights of Columbus chapter complained of profanity and sexual references

1988 - Indiana - Challenged at the Linton-Stockton High School as being "blasphemous and undermines morality"

1989 - California - Muroc Joint Unified School District board in Boron High School removed the book from school reading lists after parents complain the novel was unsuitable because of profanity, blasphemy and promotion of anti-family values. Local resident and religious activist Patty Salazar said she supports the board action because the novel "doesn't belong in a public high school." "It uses the Lord's name in vain 200 times," she said. "That's enough reason to ban it right there. They say it describes reality. I say let's back up from reality. Let's go backwards. Let's go back to when we didn't have an immoral society."

1991 - Illinois - Challenged at Grayslake Community High School

1992

Illinois - Challenged at the Jamaica High School in Sidell for profanity, depiction of premarital sex, alcohol abuse, and prostitution

Iowa - Challenged at Waterloo schools for profanity, lurid passages about sex, and statements defamatory to minorities, God, women, and the disabled.

Florida - Challenged at Duval County public school libraries for profanity, lurid passages about sex, and statements defamatory to minorities, God, women, and the disabled.

Pennsylvania - Challenged at the Cumberland Valley High School after parent's objections of profanity and immorality.

1993 - California - Challenged and retained at Corona Norco Unified School district because it is "centered around negative activity."

1994

Wisconsin - Challenged but retained at the New Richmond High School for use in some English classes

New Hampshire - Challenged as mandatory reading in the Goffstown schools for language and sexual content

1995 - Florida - Challenged at the St. Johns County Schools

1996 - Maine - Parent challenged over the word "fuck" ("f" word) at teh Oxford Hills High School

1997

Georgia - Challenged but retained at the Glynn Academy High School in Brunswick after a student objected to profanity and sexual content.

California - Removed by school superintendent required reading curriculum of the Marysville Joint Unified School District  to get it "out of the way so that we didn't have that polarization over a book."

1999-2000 - Georgia - Vanned and reinstated after community protests at the Windsor Forest High School in Savannah after a parent complained about the sex, violence, and profanity

2000 - Alabama - Challenged but retained at the Limestone County school district after complaints of language

2001

South Carolina - Removed by a Dorchester District 2 school board member in Summerville because it "is a filthy, filthy book."

Georgia - Challenged by a school board member for language but retained in Glynn County

2005 – Maine - Challenged, but retained as an assigned reading in the Noble High School in North Berwick.

2009 – Montana - Challenged in the Big Sky high School in Missoula

2010 - Florida - Challenged but retained in the Martin School District after a parent's complaint for language

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

in

Welcome to the literary deconstruction of race and beauty in this book about… holy crap that's what this book is about?! Evan might talk about the armadillos that are trying to sex each other.

Banned

#34 on the 100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999

#15 on the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

1994

Alaska - Removed from a Lathrop High School classroom in Fairbanks for graphic descriptions and language.

Pennsylvania - Challenged at West Chester schools as pornographic

Banned from Morrisville Borough High School English after complaints of sexual content and language

1995

Florida - Challenged at the St Johns County Schools in St Augustine

Massachusetts - Challenged at Lynn schools for sexual content

1998 - Maryland - Challenged on Montgomery County reading lists and school library shelves

1999 - New Hampshire - Removed from reading list for nnth and tenth grade at Stevens High School in Claremont after a parent's complaint about sexual content

2003 - California - Challenged, but retained at the Kern High School District in Bakersfield despite complaints of the book's sexually explicit material.

2005 - Colorado - Banned from the Littleton curriculum and library shelves after complaints about its explicit sex, including the rape of an eleven-year-old girl by her father.

2007 - Michigan - Challenged in the Howell High School because of the book's strong sexual content. In response from the president of the Livingston Organization for Values in Education (LOVE), the county's top law enforcement official reviewed the book to see whether laws against distribution of sexually explicit materials to minors had been broken. The county prosecutor wrote, "Whether these materials are appropriate for minors is a decision to be made by the school board, but I find that they are not in violation of the criminal laws."

2009 - Indiana - Retained in the Delphi Community High School's curriculum despite claims of inappropriate sexual content and graphic language.

2011 - Connecticut - Challenged in the Brookfield High School curriculum because of sex scenes, profanity, and age-appropriateness of the book. Students in the high school have been reading Morrison's book since 1995.

2013

Alabama - In August, Alabama State Senator Bill Holtzclaw (R-Madison) also called for his state to bar students from reading the book, taking issue with the work’s language and content.

Colorado - Challenged in Legacy High School's Advanced Placement English classes in Adams County because it was a "bad book." A notice was sent home to let parents know what they would be reading and why and an alternate assignment was offered to those who wanted it. Half a dozen students of about 150 opted to read one of the alternative texts and received instruction on those works outside of class time.

Ohio - Challenged on a suggested reading list for Columbus high school students by the school board president because it is inappropriate for the school board to "even be associated with it." A fellow board member described the book as having "an underlying socialist-communist agenda."

2014

North Carolina - East Wake High in Wake County removed the book from readings lists along with The Color Purple after a parent complained. The books are retained in the school library.

2015 - Oklahoma - Challenged, but retained in the Durant high school library despite a parent's concerns over sexual and violent content.

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

in ,

One of the most banned books of all time going back over a 130 years, let's learn about a little boy's life after faking his own murder and meeting up with a slave.

Banned

1885 - Massachusetts - Banned in Concord as "trash and suitable only for the slums."

1905 - New York - Excluded from the Brooklyn Public Library's children's colleciton because "Huck not only itched but scratched, and that he said sweat when he should have said perspiration."

1930 - Confiscated at the USSR border

1957 - New York - Dropped from New York City list of books recommended for senior and junior high schools partly for use of racial language

1969 - Florida - Removed from Miami-Dade Junior College required reading because it "creates an emotional block for black students that inhibits learning."

1976 - Illinois - Challenged for racism at the New Trier High School at Winnetka

1981 - Pennsylvania - Challenged for racism at the Tamament Junior High in Warrington

1982

Iowa - Challenged for racism in Davenport Public Schools

Texas - Challenged for racism at the Sprint Independent School District in Houston

Virginia - Challenged for racism at the Mark Twain Intermediate School in Fairfax County

1983 - Pennsylvania - Challenged for racism in State College Area School District

1984 - Illinois - Challenged for racism in Springfield

1988

Illinois - Removed from required reading in teh Rockford public schools for racial language

Louisiana - REmoved from required reading and school libraries in Caddo Parish for racism

Michigan - Challenged at the Berrien Springs High School

1989 - Tennessee - Challenged at the Sevier Country High School in Sevierville for racial language and dialect

1990

Pennsylvania - Challenged at Erie High School for racism

Texas - Challenged in Plano Independent School District for racism

1991

Arizona - Challenged in the Mesa Unified School District because of racial language and damages self-esteem of black youth

Louisiana - Removed from required reading at Terrebonne Parish Schools in Houma for racial language

Michigan - Temporarily pulled from Portage classrooms after some black parents complained their children were uncomfortable

1992

California - Challenged at Modesto High as required language for racist language

North Carolina - Challenged at the Kinston Middle School as unsuitable for age group due to racist language

1993 - Pennsylvania - Challenged at Carlisle schools for racial language

1994

Georgia - Challenged at Taylor County High School in Butler for racial language, bad grammar, and does not reject slavery. Raised a grade level.

Texas - Challenged but retained on high school level by the Lewisville school board

1995

California - Removed from required reading lists in East San Jose high school after objections from black parents over racial language that erodes their children's self esteem and affects the children's performance

Connecticut - Removed from eighth grade curriculum at New Haven middle school complained it undermined the self-esteem of black youth.

Washington, D.C. - Removed from curriculum of the North Cathedral School for content and language

Wisconsin - Challenged in Kenosha Unified School after a complaint was filed with the local NAACP of offensive to black students

1996

Arizona - Challenged as required reading in an honors English class at the McClintock High School in Tempe by a teacher on behalf of their daughter and other black students. In May 1996, a class action lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, alleging the district deprived minority students of educational opportunities by requiring racially offensive literature as part of class assignments. In January 1997, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit stating he realized that "language in the novel was offensive and hurtful to the plaintiff," but that the suit failed to prove the district violated the student's civil rights or that the works were assigned with discriminatory intent. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco ruled that requiring public school students to read literary works that some find racially offensive is not discrimination prohibited by the equal protection clause or Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The ruling came in the case Monteiro v. Tempe Union High School District

Pennsylvania - removed from required reading list at the Upper Dublin schools because of its racial language

Texas - Banned from the Lindale Advanced Placement English reading list for "conflicting with the values of the community."

Washington - Challenged for being on the approved reading list in the Federal Way schools because it "promotes hate and racism"

1997

Indiana - Challenged at the Columbus North High School because the books is "degrading, insensitive, and oppressive"

New Jersey - Removed from Cherry Hill school classrooms after concerns were raised about racial language and depiction of African American characters. Reinstated later that year after the school board approved a new curriculum with a context of racial relations along with the works of Frederick Douglass, Maya Angelou, and Langston Hughes

Ohio - Challenged in South Euclid-Lyndhurst City Schools after a school complained that some classmates laughed at the racial language

Virginia - Challenged but retained at McLean High School in Fairfax despite a parent's complaint that the book offends African Americans

1998

Georgia - Challenged in the Dalton County schools for offensive language; Challenged in the Whitfield County for offensive language

Pennsylvania - The Pennsylvania NAACP called for the book's removal from required school reading lists across the state for racial language

1999 - Alaska - Recommended for removal because of racial language from the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District

2000 - Oklahoma - Challenged but retained at Enid schools after previously being removed in 1977

2001 - Illinois - Challenged in the Kankakee School District for racial language

2002 - Oregon - Challenged in the Portland schools by a black student who said he was offended by the racial language

2003 - Illinois - Challenged in teh Normal Community High School as being degrading

2004 - Washington - REmoved from reading lists in Renton high schools after a black student said the book degraded her and her culture. The novel was not required reading but was on approved book's list

2006 - Arizona - Challenged as required reading at Cactus High in Peoria. The student and mother threatened to file a civil-rights complaint of alleged racial treatment, segregation of the student, and the use of racial language in the classroom

2007

Michigan - Removed from Taylor school classes after complaints of racial language

Minnesota - Challenged but retained at Lakeville High School and the St. Louis Park High School in Minneapolis as required reading although staff was given training and alternate reading choices were made

Texas - Challenged at Richland High School in NOrth Richland Hills for racial language

2008 - Connecticut - Retained in Manchester School District with the requirement that teachers attend seminars about race before teaching the book

2016 - Virginia - The superintendent of Accomack County Public Schools confirmed the district had removed Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” after a parent voiced her concerns during a Nov. 15 school board meeting, reported WAVY-TV.

2018 - Minnesota - Duluth Public Schools removed the book from the curriculum for use of the "n" word.

Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. 2014.

Philips, Kristine. "A school district drops ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and ‘Huckleberry Finn’ over use of the n-word." Washington Post. Retrieved on 2018 February 9 from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2018/02/07/a-school-district-drops-to-kill-a-mockingbird-and-huckleberry-finn-over-use-of-the-n-word/?utm_term=.f2df4a0b9d2d

"Dances and Dames"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/