Board members sought re-review of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye but could not secure a third sponsor

Two members of the Utah State Board of Education said during board-member comments that they tried to use the board’s review process to re-examine Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye after it was removed in the statewide book-review process, but they could not find a third member to sponsor the re-review.

Member Real said she and Member Lear “looked for a third board member to follow a process to try and have a re-examination of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye,” and that they were “unsuccessful.” She described the novel as an important work that “talks about racism and beauty standards,” and said it “gives voice to experiences often left out of literature.”

Member Real noted Morrison’s major literary honors while explaining the rationale for seeking re-review, saying Morrison has won “the Nobel Prize in literature, a pulster prize for fiction, the presidential medal of freedom and the national humanities medal.” She argued those factors and the book’s themes supported reconsideration of its availability in school libraries.

The board did not take a formal vote or adopt a motion to re-open review of the title during the meeting. Member Real said the effort failed to secure a third board member willing to follow the re-review process, and she framed the attempt as a procedural effort rather than a unilateral action.

No specific next steps, referrals to staff, or dates for further consideration were announced on the record at the meeting.