NC school system lifts ban on 'Invisible Man'

ASHEBORO, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina school board has rescinded its ban on Ralph Ellison's 'Invisible Man,' returning it to local high school libraries.

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

ASHEBORO, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina school board has rescinded its ban on Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man,” returning it to local high school libraries.

The Courier-Tribune of Asheboro reports the Randolph County Board of Education voted 6-1 Wednesday to reverse the ban it issued 10 days ago. The board voted 5-2 on Sept. 16 to pull the book from the 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 the book’s language and sexual content.

“Invisible Man” is a first-person narrative by a black man who considers himself socially invisible. It was originally published in 1952. It won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction in 1953.

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