Once again, we have a challenged text. And once again, it’s one that students have been reading for years, one that’s an award-winning book, and, of course, one that adults in the school community are getting all in a tizzy over.

Toni Morrison’s Beloved, which focuses on slavery in antebellum America, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, and one that I personally read in my twelfth grade AP English class. I found it to be a very good book, personally; it painted a brilliant picture of the horrors the main character had to go through, reflecting what actual slaves survived as well.

Like all books challenged and banned, this one does not feature only puppies and meadows:

Beloved is the story of an escaped slave haunted by memories of her murdered child. It portrays her plantation days and life after the Civil War. Considered a classic of literature and written by one of America’s foremost black female novelists, the book frequently has been challenged across the country partly because of its depiction of rapes, beatings and murders.

Yes, because it is quite evident that young adults are never subjected to seeing or hearing about such things.

Oh, wait, yes they are. It’s called the news. Life. Magazines. Music. Media and the power of speech in general. I don’t understand why school boards and other educational authorities find it so necessary to shield students from things they know exist. How is it going to help them? It’s not. Really.

One of the students who was in the class that had the book banned was actually interviewed:

“At one point, it’s talking about a plantation. And there’s no females. So the men resort to bestiality,” Comerlato said, adding that he didn’t object because “we’re in a college-level class.”

I would like, for once, for those banning and challenging books to actually ask for the opinions of the students, and let them decide whether or not they’re ready for such books. A little credit to their intelligence would be nice.

Ky. principal tells students to stop reading acclaimed novel
The Associated Press
03.29.07
Complete Article