Toni Morrison’s 1970 novel ” The Bluest Eye ” is the 30th book removed from Cobb County school libraries since 2024.
Cobb County school officials have decided to remove the culture classic novel from Pulitzer Prize winning author Toni Morrison from school libraries citing sexually explicit material as the basis for it’s decision.
Cobb County Schools Superintendent Chris Ragsdale updated the Board and community on the Cobb County School District’s review of library media materials.
The review identified passages that do not meet District standards for student-accessible content. One passage depicts the rape of an 11-year-old girl by her father.
Ragsdale read the following excerpt, warning after making this statement:
“… I’m not going to direct you to a website or other resource. I’m not going to ask that you read the book. I am going to read to you the actual words. … The next couple of minutes are going to be difficult, particularly for those of you who are daughters, sisters, mothers, or any one of the 51,000 young women in a Cobb County school. And for those of us who are dads, particularly dads of daughters, the next couple of minutes are going to be equally difficult.
“He wanted to break her neck, tenderly … his eleven-year-old daughter … he wanted to fu** her tenderly… the gigantic thrust he made into her… removing himself from her was so painful… he snatched his genitalia out of the dry harbor of her vagina… she appeared to have fainted.”
“The words speak for themselves,” Superintendent Ragsdale said. “As both a father and a superintendent, I think about a parent having to explain explicit descriptions of child incest and rape to a sixth-grade daughter after she encounters them in a school-provided book—without the parent’s prior knowledge. As superintendent of a district serving more than 100,000 students, I cannot make that decision for other parents and their children.”
The Superintendent emphasized that the decision concerns this book’s specific content—not the author’s body of work. Other books by Toni Morrison remain available in Cobb schools.
Cobb’s library media rule provides for qualified personnel to evaluate materials and recognizes parents’ right to raise concerns through established procedures. The rule also requires library materials to support the curriculum and District goals and makes their selection subject to Georgia law, including provisions concerning material considered harmful to minors.
Superintendent Ragsdale’s Remarks
“We are in a political season, and too often the truth gets lost. I recognize that, as superintendent of a successful district focused on student achievement, I am a target for those who want Cobb to follow a different political agenda.
Let me be clear: Cobb does not provide students unrestricted access to age-inappropriate, lewd, vulgar, or sexually explicit materials. Some have claimed that this position means I do not support teachers. That assertion is false.
I have strongly supported Cobb educators for more than a decade. Since my first day as interim superintendent, I have said that this District is one team made up of those who teach and those who serve those who teach.
Education depends on talent. I have repeatedly recommended that the Board prioritize attracting, retaining, and supporting the best educators in Georgia. When I became interim superintendent, Cobb had fallen behind many metro districts in teacher compensation. Over the past 11 years, we have returned Cobb to a position of paying teachers more than any other district in the state.
Three years ago, we also created Georgia’s BEST, one of the state’s most generous programs for supporting educators pursuing advanced degrees. The District has supported or is supporting the graduate education of more than 1,500 Cobb educators, saving participants millions of dollars in tuition.
Our support for teachers has produced strong retention and made Cobb a destination for educator talent. This year, despite a severe nationwide teacher shortage, the District received more than 100 applications for every vacant teaching position.
Those are the facts.
Critics have also claimed that our book-review process is not transparent, that we remove books merely because they are considered classics, and that the materials in question do not contain age-inappropriate or sexually explicit language. Some have said that not one book removed by the District contains language sexualizing children.
Tonight, I want the public to understand what this review process is actually about.
Through discussions with superintendents in Georgia and across the country, we became aware of The Bluest Eye, an award-winning novel available in school media centers. An award, however, does not automatically make a book appropriate for students of every age.
Our review found passages containing explicit depictions of child sexual abuse, rape, incest, and violence. These passages could be accessed by students as young as 11 without their parents’ prior knowledge or consent.
Reading those words aloud is difficult and deeply uncomfortable. But the community deserves to understand the specific content behind this decision.
Parents may reach different conclusions about which books are appropriate for their own children, and we respect their right to make those choices. As superintendent, however, I cannot make that deeply personal decision on behalf of every family in a district serving more than 100,000 students.
Effective immediately, The Bluest Eye will no longer be available to students in Cobb County school media centers. This decision is based on the book’s sexually explicit depiction of the rape and incest of a child. The words—and their context—speak for themselves.”
Student and Family Support
If you or your child is struggling, experiencing a difficult time, or needs someone to talk to, please contact your school counselor or social worker. Cobb’s counselors and social workers are available to listen, support students and families, and connect them with appropriate resources.
