Invisible Man Indeed

Ralph Waldo Ellison's most famous novel, INVISIBLE MAN, was banned from school libraries in Randolph County, N.C. due to a parent's misgivings. The local school board is required to vote on any parental complaints and the ban was approved in a vote of 5-2. Gary Mason, one of the board members, stated "I didn’t find any literary value." No. Literary. Value. Found. Within. The. Novel. Invisible. Man?? I can't explain my reaction to this over the Internet without help. So, to further emphasize my disbelief and horror, I leave you to Chris Griffin:



Mr. Ellison's work speaks of his experiences and that of others. He was a very talented man. I could go on and on, but I won't because you can read the novel for yourself and draw your own conclusions, which will reveal the injustice this novel received from that school district. He was brilliant, IMHO.

In 1953, Mr. Ellison won the National Book Award. He also won the Russwurm Award that same year. He was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969. He was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 1985. He won other awards as well, but the aforementioned were just a few of them.

Yes, I finally came back to my blog and I won't take such a long hiatus again. :-)