Black History Month is a good time to remember that many books written by African-Americans have been challenged or banned.

The reasons given for challenging these books vary. In some cases, people have objected to some of the same things they oppose in works by white authors-- sexual content, offensive language, "anti-American" content. However, many of the objections are related to race. Some protestors deny the existence of racism and oppose the portrayal of problems that arise from it. Others believe that some of these books are anti-white. Some African- Americans are offended by the use of racial slurs and the portrayal of black life in books like The Color Purple.

To learn more about African-American's courageous struggle for free speech in the arts and politics, click here.

The following list of banned and challenged works is drawn from:

American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom
Doyle, Robert. Banned Books Resource Guide. American Library Association, 2001.
Sova, Dawn. Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds. Facts On File, 1998.

Ralph Abernathy
And the Walls Came Tumbling Down
Burned in protest in Denver, Colorado, in 1989 because it alleged that Martin Luther King, Jr. committed adultery.

Rodger Abrahms
African Folktales: Traditional Stores of the Black World
Challenged in Dallas, Texas, in 1991 by school administrators because of references to male genitals and bodily functions.

Arnold Adoff
Poetry of Black America
Challenged at a Florida library in 1996 because of violence and references to abortion.

Rae Alexander
Young and Black in America
Restricted to students with parental permission in Elk River, Minnesota schools. The ACLU of Minnesota sued the school and forced it to reverse its decision.

Maya Angelou
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Challenged, removed, rejected or banned 33 times throughout the 80's, 90's and 2000 because of anti-white sentiment, offensive language and sexual content.

And Still I Rise
Challenged three times in the 1980's in Louisiana, North Carolina and Washington, because of offensive language.

William Armstrong
Sounder
Challenged in the Rockingham County, North Carolina, schools because of the use of racial slurs.

James Baldwin
Another County
Banned from New Orleans Public Library in 1963 because it was considered obscene. Restored in 1964 after litigation.

Blues for Mr. Charlie
Challenged in South Dakota in 1980 because it "tears down Christian principles."

Go Tell It On The Mountain
Challenged twice in the 1990's because of sexual content.

If Beale Street Could Talk
Removed from an Oregon high school library in 1989 because of offensive language and depictions of sexual activity.

Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone
Rejected by the Alabama State Textbook Committee in 1983 because it preaches "bitterness and hatred against whites."

Claude Brown
Manchild in the Promised Land
Removed or restricted at four school libraries and challenged at an Oregon high school because of offensive language. Critics also claimed that students didn't need to "understand life in a black ghetto."

Alice Childress
Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich
Removed from three school libraries because of offensive language, later reinstated in two.

Eldridge Cleaver
Soul on Ice
Barred from black studies courses in California public schools in 1969 and challenged in three other schools because of offensive language, sexual content and anti-American sentiment.

Ralph Ellison
Invisible Man
Excerpts of the book were banned in Butler, Pennsylvania, schools; removed from high school reading lists of a Wisconsin school and challenged in a Washington high school because of offensive language, violence and sexual content.

Ernest Gaines
Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
Removed from eighth grade Conroe, Texas, class because of racial slurs; later reinstated by school officials.

Nikki Giovanni
My House
Banned from a Wisconsin public school and challenged at two schools in New York and Florida because of offensive language, sexual content and "racism."

John Griffin
Black Like Me
Challenged five times since the 1960's because of offensive language and in a Missouri public school in 1982 because of "black people being in the book."

Alex Haley, Malcolm X
Autobiography of Malcolm X
Challenged in Duval County and Jacksonville, Florida public schools in 1993 and 1994 because it was considered racist toward whites.

Lorraine Hansberry
Raisin in the Sun
A school district in Utah restricted circulation of the play in 1979 because of criticism from an anti-pornography organization.

Marcy Heidish
Woman Called Moses
Removed from a North Carolina school library because of offensive language.

Carolivia Herron
Nappy Hair
Challenged by black parents in Brooklyn, New York, because they believed it was racially insensitive.

Langston Hughes
Best Short Stories by Negro Writers
This title and nine others were removed from the library by the Island Trees, New York, school district. Titles were considered "anti-American." Reinstated after a U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Zora Neale Hurston
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Challenged because of sexual content in a Virginia high school.

Jesse Jackson
Call Me Charley
Challenged because of racial slurs.

Randall Kenan
James Baldwin
Removed from Anaheim, California middle school libraries because officials said it is too difficult and that it could cause harassment against students seen carrying it. The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California filed suit in Doe v. Anaheim Union High School District alleging that the removal is a "a pretext for viewpoint based censorship." The ACLU claims works by Shakespeare and Dickens, with more difficult reading, have not been removed. The ACLU contends the real objection is that the book contains references to homosexuality.

Mark Mathbane
Kaffir Boy
Challenged at eight schools because of sexual content and offensive language.

Patricia McKissack
Mirandy and Brother Wind
Challenged at a Florida elementary school in 1991 because of the book's use of black dialect.

Louise Meriwether
Daddy Was a Numbers Runner
Removed from Oakland, California, junior high school libraries in 1977 because of its depiction of inner-city life.

Eve Merriam
Inner City Mother Goose
Removed from the Whitney Point, New York, middle school library after a parent complained about its offensive language.

Toni Morrison
Beloved
Challenged four times in the 1990's because of violence and offensive language.

The Bluest Eye
Challenged four times, removed from a classroom and reading list and banned from one school in the 1990's because of sexual content and offensive language.

Song of Solomon
Challenged in two schools, removed from the required reading list and approved text list of two other schools in the 1990's because of offensive language and sexual content.

Sula
Challenged in 2000 in a Maryland High School for sexual content and offensive language.

April Sinclair
Coffee Will Make You Black
Removed from the curriculum in Chicago, Illinois, schools in 1996 because of offensive language.

Walter Dean Myers
Young Martin's Promise
A school board member in Queens, New York, challenged this title because of opposition to the political ideas of Martin Luther King, Jr. The book was retained.

Gordon Parks
Learning Tree
Challenged at four schools and subject to a court challenge because of offensive language.

Thomas Piri
Down These Mean Streets
Removed from two school libraries in the 1970's.

Dudley Randall
Black Poets
Banned from classroom use in Tinely Park, Illinois, in 1982 because of the book's depiction of unlawful acts.

Faith Ringgold
Tar Beach
Challenged in Spokane, Washington, elementary school because of the way it portrays African-Americans.

Mildred Taylor
Friendship
Challenged in a Maryland school system in 1997 because the book was considered to have "no redeeming value."

Alice Walker
The Color Purple
Challenged 11 times; only available with parental permission in one school; removed from two school libraries; rejected for purchase by one school district, and banned from another. Most censorship attempts were brought because of offensive language, sexual content and a "negative image of black men."

Temple of My Familiar
Removed from a West Virginia school library in 1997.

Margaret Walker
Jubilee
Challenged in Greenville County, South Carolina, school libraries in 1977 by the Ku Klux Klan, which claimed the novel creates "racial strife and hatred."

Terry Wallace
Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by Black Veterans
Banned from a middle school library in Spring Hill, Florida, in 1987 because of offensive language.

Chancellor Williams
Destruction of African Civilization and the Origin of African Civilization
Challenged in Prince George County, Maryland, high school libraries because of "racism against white people."

Richard Wright
Native Son
Challenged or banned eight times in schools because of violence, offensive language and sexual content.