SLO County book banners targeted a Nobel Prize winner. That’s the true offense | Opinion
They aren’t giving up.
This time, self-appointed censors trying to purge certain books from school libraries went after one of the greatest American novelists of all time: Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison.
They petitioned the Lucia Mar Unified School District to remove “The Bluest Eye,” Morrison’s first novel, from the Arroyo Grande library.
The school board refused to give in to their demands.
The board voted 5-2 last week to keep the book on the library shelf. Last fall, the same board voted to retain two other challenged books — “Gender Queer” and “Push.”
Bravo.
The idea that we should shelter teenagers from a literary masterpiece because they may not have the maturity to handle it is both frightening and patronizing.
And where will it end?
Take away “The Bluest Eye” and what’s next?
“The Handmaid’s Tale”? “East of Eden”? “1984”?
Maybe even certain passages of the Bible?
Enough. These annoying censorship attempts are nothing more than performative exercises that aim to undermine public schools and to shame school board members — possibly as ammunition for upcoming election campaigns?
They waste the time of school officials who have far better things to do than sit in judgment of books that have not only already been vetted by local staff and have been recognized nationwide again and again as significant works of literature well within the abilities of high school students to comprehend and appreciate.
‘This book is trash’
The fight over “The Bluest Eye” was especially wrought.
One speaker called Morrison — who has been ranked with Mark Twain, Herman Melville and William Faulkner — a “sick individual.”
“This book, ‘The Bluest Eye,’ is trash,” he said.
Look, it is not for everyone. “The Bluest Eye” is a challenging read that tells the traumatic story of a young Black girl who is raped and impregnated by her father.
Jennie Merritte told the school board that she had been sexually abused as a child and reading the Morrison novel brought back that painful experience.
“The thought of picking the book up again made me want to vomit, but I felt compelled to finish the book in hopes that the ending would provide light at the end of a dark and troubling tunnel. It did not,” said Merrite, who filed the written request to have the book removed.
Banning books that cause discomfort ignores reality
We respect that Merritte raised a point that goes beyond the usual, shallow arguments for banning books: They’re pornographic or violent or they normalize “aberrant behavior.”
Merritte spoke of the effect they can have on vulnerable readers, which is not something to casually dismiss.
But if something triggers one person, that does not mean everyone will have the same reaction. Personal discretion has to play a role in deciding what to read, what to listen to or what to watch.
Teenagers, like all the rest of us, exercise that judgment every day. It doesn’t go away when they enter the school library.
“The Bluest Eye” is sitting on a shelf at the Arroyo Grande High School library, there as a resource for anyone who would like to read it.
Free societies who embrace learning and knowledge understand this. The voices who oppose literature do not.
Besides, banning legitimate educational materials because they might cause us discomfort ignores reality and is the most dangerous of slippery slopes for public schools.
What other difficult experiences might someone like to sanitize?
Should we not teach students about slavery or Jim Crow or the Holocaust because it makes them feel bad?.
Absoutely not.
We applaud the Lucia Mar school board for acting correctly and courageously when it voted to keep “The Bluest Eye” in the Arroyo Grande High School library.
Let’s hope future boards value great literature just as much.
This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 8:54 AM with the headline "SLO County book banners targeted a Nobel Prize winner. That’s the true offense | Opinion."