The targets of the investigation? Three school librarians in Granbury, Texas. The allegation? They had allowed children to access literature — such as “The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morrison — that the officer, Scott London, a chief deputy constable, had deemed obscene.

Summary of The Bluest Eye from Wikipedia:

The novel takes place in Lorain, Ohio (Morrison’s hometown), and tells the story of a young African-American girl named Pecola who grew up following the Great Depression. Set in 1941, the story is about how she is consistently regarded as “ugly” due to her mannerisms and dark skin. As a result, she develops an inferiority complex, which fuels her desire for the blue eyes she equates with “whiteness”.

The novel is told mostly from Claudia MacTeer’s point of view. Claudia is the daughter of Pecola’s temporary foster parents. There is also some omniscient third-person narration. The book’s controversial topics of racism, incest, and child molestation have led to numerous attempts to ban the novel from schools and libraries in the United States.[1]

Now, if he read the book, like he claims to have read it, he would know that the only obscene thing in the book is that it shows why things like racism and incest are, themselves, obscene. And that sounds like something kids should learn.

Unless, of course, this cop doesn’t find one or both of those things obscene and rather finds the obscene thing to be telling people racism and/or incest is wrong…