Cobb County, Georgia pulls Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye" from school libraries
Superintendent Chris Ragsdale defends removing the novel over child rape and incest passages as free-speech groups call it censorship.
What to know
- Cobb County, Georgia's second-largest school district, has removed over 30 books since 2023, including titles like "A Court of Thorns and Roses" and "Thirteen Reasons Why," with "The Bluest Eye" the latest.
- Superintendent Ragsdale frames the removals as preserving parental choice, not censorship, comparing it to movie ratings.
- PEN America and many online commenters characterize the removals as censorship that restricts access to acclaimed literature.
- Other works by Toni Morrison remain in Cobb County libraries; the district says only books with sexually explicit passages are targeted.
The dispute Whether removing the book protects children from explicit content or constitutes unjustified censorship of acclaimed literature. · positions read across 17 posts and comments
The removal is censorship driven by ignorance and political bias, not genuine child protection.
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“Fuck this ignorance and stupidity ….These people need to read the damn book.”
Infinite-Instance609 · reddit ↗
The book's disturbing content is genuinely hard to read, even if banning isn't the answer.
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“Not justifying banning, but I put it down after the scene with the cat torture. That was too much for me.”
Henson_Disney48 · reddit ↗
The novel was formative and appropriate reading at a young age.
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“I read it in middle school nearly the same age as then character. Still one of my favorites my mom bought it for me.”
NyxHemera45 · reddit ↗
“As the superintendent responsible for the instruction of 100,000 students, I do not have the luxury of making that decision for other parents and their children.”
Chris Ragsdale, Cobb County Schools Superintendent · Fox News Digital ↗ · Sep 20
Chris Ragsdale Cobb County Schools SuperintendentToni Morrison Author of "The Bluest Eye"PEN America Free-speech advocacy organizationCobb County School District Georgia's second-largest school district
How it unfolded 3 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlespostscomments
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3
Commenters share personal history with the novel
Some Reddit commenters describe reading "The Bluest Eye" in middle school and valuing it, pushing back on the idea that it is unsuitable for young readers.
“I read it in middle school nearly the same age as then character. Still one of my favorites my mom bought it for me.”
— NyxHemera45 -
This is a great book which I first heard about decades ago when they first banned it from some school district or another. Possibly half my fiction reading these days comes from these ban lists, which are a great way to find out about the best books. And then of course I get to recommend the book to others and also ask pro-banners my go-to…
2 more of the top 3 · 10 posts in this stretch
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The second part of the punishment after god made an infant suffer for a week before killing it is that he took david’s concubines (why doesn’t god say no sex slaves? David has like 30 slave wives and he’s still out fucking other women) and had them all raped. God’s penalty fir adultery is death but David’s baby and slave wives are harmed for…
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My mind kind of exploded trying to follow the whole "is the trinity three distinct gods making Christianity evil polytheism or is it one entity with different presentations or did one create the others" thing. It's almost like the canon isn't internally consistent.
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Story spreads on Reddit and Mastodon, sparking backlash
The Fox News story is reposted to r/books-adjacent communities and Mastodon, drawing angry comments accusing the district of ignorance and political motivation.
“These people never read the book. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, like "protecting" children.”
— Infinite-Instance609 -
B
https://www. booksns.com/228262/ A Georgia school district has removed Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” from its public school libraries, citing sexually explicit and graphic depictions of child abuse in the award-winning novel # books A Georgia school district has removed Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” from its public school libraries, citing…
2 more of the top 3 · 7 posts in this stretch
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I just started swearing so much…..You know these people never read the book. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, like “protecting” children. These people voted for orange pdf moron, so they can go to depths of hell.
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Fuck this ignorance and stupidity ….These people need to read the damn book. I literally was going to reread this book today, now I am more determined. However, my blood is boiling. Call an ambulance and not for me….
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Fox News reports district defense amid censorship claims
Fox News Digital publishes Ragsdale's rationale alongside PEN America's warning that such removals set a "slippery slope" toward broader censorship.
“Both as a father and as a superintendent, I think about a parent having to explain to their sixth-grade daughter after she encounters explicit descriptions of child incest and rape in a book provided at school, without parents' knowledge.”
— Chris Ragsdale -
first by Fox News, 2d ago
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background
Cobb County removes "The Bluest Eye" from school libraries — The district pulled Toni Morrison's novel from public school media centers, citing sexually explicit depictions of child rape and incest, joining more than 30 other titles removed since 2023.
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background
Ragsdale reads explicit passage at board meeting — At a Cobb County Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale read aloud an excerpt from "The Bluest Eye" depicting the rape of an 11-year-old girl by her father as justification for review.
What people are saying 10 voices from 1 site · best of 17 · verbatim
- Yesterday
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According to some front page groups on this very site, women aren't mature adults capable of making their own decisions until they are 22. Or 25. Or 30. Strangely, many of these groups also claim to hate each other.
- Sep 22
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WTF. Alas, Babylon is the cheeriest post-nuclear-apocalypse book I've ever read.
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I went to the holocaust museum in like 8th grade with my whole class. I think we're forgetting some of the shit we were shown lol
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My 10th grade class read Sula. The content in these books are mature, but high school students should be mature enough to digest and analyze this echelon of content.
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Yes. In the bible god literally tells Moses to kill everyone but to leave the little virgin girls for the soldiers to own as property. Non virgin women were all slaughtered. Read your F-ing bible.
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Well, that's the way to spoil a novel... But fuck! When will this nonsense stop?
- Sep 21
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The people censoring these books don't like people being educated about child abusers. They feel seen.
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Not justifying banning, but I put it down after the scene with the cat torture. That was too much for me.
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I’d say that’s a good idea, you’re not wrong to be upset but 3 comments within 2 mins on a thread is prob a good indication to close your phone for a bit. Nothing to cheer you up online.
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Can’t even have a nice evening. I made my matcha, read, and then go on Reddit to see this. Ummmm….time for me to get off of Reddit.