Invisible Man Book Ban Being Reconsidered By North Carolina County

The "Invisible Man" book ban imposed in Randolph County, North Carolina is being reconsidered by regulators.

Invisible Man Book Ban

Ralph Ellison's landmark novel, which focuses on black identity in the first half of the 20th century, was banned from school libraries early this week after a parent complained about the 1952 award-winning book being inappropriate for 11th grade summer reading, citing both language and subject matter.

"The narrator writes in the first person, emphasizing his individual experiences and his feelings about the events portrayed in his life," Kimiyutta Parson, mother of an RHS 11th-grader, said in her complaint.

Parson added, "This novel is not so innocent; instead, this book is filthier, too much for teenagers. You must respect all religions and point of views when it comes to the parents and what they feel is age appropriate for their young children to read, without their knowledge. This book is freely in your library for them to read."

On Monday, the Randolph County Board of Education voted 5-2 in favor of the removal of all copies of the "Invisible Man" book from all school libraries.

However, the ban reportedly upset local residents, prompting the board to set up a meeting on Wednesday, September 25 to discuss the ban.

"Invisible Man" addresses many of the social and intellectual issues facing African-Americans early in the twentieth century, including black nationalism, the relationship between black identity and Marxism, and the reformist racial policies of Booker T. Washington, as well as issues of individuality and personal identity.

The book won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction in 1953. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Invisible Man nineteenth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Time magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.