“[Banning] stuck me as a purist yet elementary kind of censorship designed to appease adults rather than educate children.”
- Toni Morrison
ERASED
LESSONS ON TONI’S FREEDOM
Pulitzer Prize–winning author Toni Morrison was no stranger to being at the top of literary awards, honors and respectable lists.
Some of her novels also happen to be among the most banned books in the United States.
The Bluest Eye was listed by the American Literary Association as the tenth-most banned book from 2010 to 2019.
What other stories do students risk missing out on if censorship continues?
Amanda Gorman’s spoken-word poem, “The Hill We Climb,” which was recited at President Biden’s inauguration, discusses a divided America that, once unified, will be what it’s always tried to be.
It was restricted from a Florida school in May 2023.
Sandra Cisneros’, The House on Mango Street, is a critically acclaimed coming-of-age story about Esperanza Cordero, a Mexican-American growing up in a segregated Chicago.
Despite being taught in many classrooms over the years, the book has been challenged by many schools, most recently in Michigan in 2022.
Lupita Nyong’o’s debut children’s book, Sulwe, is about a young girl going through the journey of loving herself despite her differences.
It was shelved by school boards across Florida and Pennsylvania.