WENTZVILLE (Mo.) – In the face of criticisms and a lawsuit, a suburban St. Louis school district reversed its decision to remove a book form its school libraries.
The Wentzville School Board accepted Friday’s recommendation by a review panel to keep Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” (which it had previously banned due to its explicit descriptions and violence of sex, rape, and incest), the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Daniel Brice, vice president of the board, stated that the district should tighten its policies regarding certain books. However, he pointed out that parents have the right to request that certain titles be unavailable to their children.
The removal of “The Bluest Eye,” from the high school libraries in the district’s district was a major news story. Other books were also temporarily banned by the board while they are being reviewed.
Two students were sued by the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri (HTMO) earlier in this month .
Although this is a good news, six books remain banned. “And Wentzville’s policies make it easy for any community member, even when they shamelessly target books about LGBTQ people or communities of color,” Anthony Rothert from the ACLU of Missouri, director of integrated advocacy, said.