The Bluest Eye was the first Toni Morrison novel I read and it quickly led to me being a huge fan of her work. I read it for the first time in high school, senior year. And I remember being one of three Black kids in that A.P. English course, "debating" with my white peers about the awful abuse that happened to Pecola. For whatever reason, one of them didn't interpret her as a victim (I laid into him about that, among other things).

Privilege is not EVER setting eyes on a piece of literature but somehow still having the authority to declare it "inappropriate". You really hit the nail on the head: banning books is banning voices. I can't imagine how different my outlook on life would be had I not come across such a profound piece of literature. Thanks so much for sharing!