COBB COUNTY, GA — Cobb County School District is removing Toni Morrison’s novel “The Bluest Eye” from its schools and media centers following a book review process.
The district says the novel contains sexually explicit material that violates its standards for content available to students in sixth through 12th grades. The novel includes the rape of an 11-year-old girl by her father.
Superintendent Chris Ragsdale addressed the decision during a Board of Education meeting.
“Just because a book wins an award does not automatically mean we should give children access to it,” Ragsdale said.
Ragsdale also reacted after reading an excerpt from the novel during the meeting.
“It makes me incredibly uncomfortable. It should’ve made every adult in this room uncomfortable,” Ragsdale said.
The district says materials containing sexually explicit content are removed from Cobb schools.
“In every Cobb County school, children will not have access to this sexually explicit description of the planned murder, rape, and incest of a child only 11 years old,” Ragsdale said.
The district has removed 37 books from its media centers since 2023.
WSB Radio’s Ashley Simmons & Jordan D. Brown contributed to this story.