'Invisible Man' ban is lifted from North Carolina school district
The novel 鈥淚nvisible Man鈥� by Ralph Ellison was restored to Randolph County school libraries after having been banned following a complaint from a parent.聽
Earlier this month, the North Carolina school board had voted five to two to ban the book from school libraries. 鈥淚nvisible Man鈥� had previously been one of three works available to high school juniors in the county to choose from for summer reading. (Honors students were asked to chose two of the three books suggested). But a mother of an eleventh-grader found the content of 鈥淚nvisible Man鈥� 鈥� including sexual references and profane language 鈥� objectionable and wrote to the school board, 鈥淭his book is 鈥� too much for teenagers. You must respect all religions and point of views when it comes to the parents and what they feel is age appropriate for their young children to read, without their knowledge. This book is freely in your library for them to read.鈥�
When discussing the book, board member Gary Mason said of the book, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 find any literary value,鈥� according to the of Asheville, N.C. Mason said he also found the language to be objectionable.
But the school board decided to lift the ban on the book on Sept. 25, voting six to one in a special meeting to bring the novel back to Randolph County libraries.
According to , after hearing of the ban, a former Randolph County resident contacted 鈥淚nvisible Man鈥� publisher, Vintage Books, and asked them to supply free copies of the novel for high school students in the area. The publisher complied, and free copies were made available at a Books-A-Million location.
The American Library Association, one of the sponsors of the currently celebrated Banned Books Week, and the Kids鈥� Right to Read Project, wrote a letter to the Randolph County school board after the ban had been put in place, asking that the book be restored to school libraries.
During the special meeting, two teachers spoke to the board about what they considered to be the value of the novel in an attempt to persuade them to lift the ban. 鈥淪ome of the students in our classrooms right now feel that same cloak of invisibility [as the 鈥業nvisible Man鈥� protagonist],鈥� Justine Carter, who teaches English, said, according to the .
Matthew Lambeth, a school board member, told Reuters that after the ban was put in place, school staff had persuaded him that the novel was important for students to read.
鈥淚 felt like I came to a conclusion too quickly,鈥� Lambeth said of his first vote.
After the school board reversed its decision, board member Gary Cook told the Los Angeles Times, 鈥淲e may have been hammered on this and we may have made a mistake, but at least we鈥檙e big enough to admit it.鈥�
Board chairman Tommy McDonald said he鈥檇 come to understand more about his duty as a member of the school board after the controversy.聽
鈥淢y job is to make sure that book is there whether I want to read it or not,鈥� he told the Los Angeles Times.
