Advancing Justice-Atlanta Condemns Cobb County School District’s Book Bans and Censorship
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 23 2026
CONTACT
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta - media@advancingjustice-atlanta.org
Atlanta, GA - Advancing Justice-Atlanta condemns Cobb County School District’s decision to ban Toni Morriosn, “The Bluest Eye” from Cobb County school media centers and calls on the district to reverse their decision.
The freedom to read, freedom of expression, and access to diverse perspectives are essential to a free and inclusive society. These freedoms are not incidental to democracy, they are the conditions that make it possible for citizens to think critically, question authority, and participate in civic life.
The removal of Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” from Cobb County school media centers raises serious questions about access to literature, free expression, and the freedom to engage with ideas. This is part of a troubling pattern of book removals and censorship efforts spreading across school districts nationwide, one driven by a broader crackdown on dissent across the country: from the suppression of student protests, to attacks on press freedom and independent media, to escalating pressure on civil society organizations and the people who speak through them.
Morrison’s work confronts racism, trauma, and the lasting effects of institutional oppression with unflinching candor, and that perspective to confront those topics is why this book belongs in schools, not despite it.
When books are removed, voices are muted and opportunities to learn and build community together are diminished. This erosion of the freedom to read is not separate from the erosion of the freedom to protest, report, and organize: both stem from the same instinct to narrow what people are permitted to know, say, and challenge.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta (Advancing Justice-Atlanta) is the first nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) and Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities in Georgia and the Southeast.
