Toni Morrison, feminist and writer

Alabama State Senator Bill Holtzclaw has come out against a  book written by Toni Morrison, a Nobel Prize winner in Literature.. GOP members criticized him for opposing a repeal of the federal Common Core standards. Ms. Morrison’s  book is The Bluest Eye. The Bluest Eye is on the 11th grade reading list for the Common Core, a set of standards that has been adapted by more than 40 states.

The Common Core is the federal Department of Education’s effort to make American schools more competitive on the world stage and  to be standardized across states. It began as  bipartisan–governors and state superintendents brought together a panel of experts to write the standards, which focus on critical thinking as opposed to rote memorization. By last summer,forty five states and the District of Columbia had adopted the standards.

The Bluest Eye

Implementation of the standardized tests associated with Core are tough. In early August, less than a third of New York students passed the tests.The Democrats, still feel with time that students will have better critical thinking and deep analytical skills. It does seem that fighting over one book is not a way to accomplish their goals.

The Atlanta Media Group was told by Hotzclaw that the book is objectionable for everything its language to the plot of this story. Ms. Morrison wrote this book in 1970 and libraries have intermittently attempted to ban it since it was written. The plot contains the details of a rape.

Rape is happening more and more often and conservatives are trying to reduce the importance of rape. Calling date rape or spousal rape or any other type of rape a lessor act and not as violating a form of rape is demeaning and hurtful to women. Rape is actually a crime of power and control and women are not owned by men.  THerefore, any sex that is not consensual — that a woman has not willingly consented to without threat or coercion – is rape.

Speak up and write, call, and sign petitions to prevent the banning of books. We are in America and we have free speech. Our Founding Fathers felt that free speech was vital to the success of this country. Historically, the banning of books is a precursor to oppression and the elimination of basic freedoms.   Historcially, book banning leads to book burning.  Hundreds of years ago, there were huge book burnings.   This predated the Dark Ages. 70 years ago, book burnings began again, in Nazi Germany

Don’t let anyone tell you what to read or think. Education and the ability to think critically is vital for the American people.,,and the world

Ms. Morrison on Time magazine cover