School district lifts ban on Ralph Ellison book 'Invisible Man'

The board of education in North Carolina’s Randolph County voted Wednesday to rescind its ban on Ralph Ellison's novel "Invisible Man," returning it to local high school libraries.

The Courier-Tribune of Asheboro reported that the board voted 6-1 at a special meeting to reverse the ban it issued 10 days ago. It had voted 5-2 on Sept. 16 to pull the book from high school library shelves.

The initial decision came in reaction to a complaint from the mother of a Randleman High School student who said the book was "too much for teenagers." The mother specifically objected to its language and sexual content.

The lone dissenting vote in the reversal was cast by school board member Gary Mason.

“Since our board meeting on Sept. 16, I have read the book again in its entirety and still hold that same opinion: that the book is not appropriate for children or for young teenagers to read,” Mason said. “I have found the parents’ original complaint to be legitimate, and I clearly recognize that there are those who disagree with me, but I stand with what I feel.”

A statement from the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation applauded the reversal.

"Tonight, the Randolph County Board of Education righted a wrong. The freedom to read is just as essential to a healthy democracy as the freedom of speech and all other rights protected by the U.S. Constitution," foundation legal director Chris Brook said.

"This episode should serve as a valuable reminder to students, teachers, parents and school officials across the state of our ongoing duty to promote academic freedom, ensure the free exchange of ideas and information, and reject the always looming threat that censorship and suppression, for any reason, pose to a free society," Brook said.

"Invisible Man," originally published in 1952, is a first-person narrative of a black man who considers himself socially invisible. The school board's ban sparked local reaction and led to media attention across the nation.

Before the meeting, Donald Matthews, president of the Randolph County chapter of the NAACP, released a letter to the school board stating that local NAACP members disagreed with the ban. On Wednesday, a local bookstore began distributing free copies of the book contributed by the publisher to county high school students.

Al Jazeera and The Associated Press