Yes, The Color Purple Is Banned!

The Color Purple tells the story of Celie, a poor Black woman in 1930s Georgia who has been abused by her father and married off to a man she calls “Mister” who treats her as property. Through letters to God and eventually to her sister Nettie, Celie chronicles her journey from silent suffering to self-discovery, aided by the fierce blues singer Shug Avery, who becomes her lover and liberator. Walker’s novel won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, was adapted into a Steven Spielberg film and a Broadway musical, and remains one of the most important works of American literature.

The Color Purple has been challenged and banned for over four decades, making it one of the most persistently targeted books in American history. With over 50 bans in recent years and a total challenge count exceeding 200, objections have ranged from its explicit depictions of sexual and physical abuse to its lesbian relationship, its use of dialect and strong language, and its portrayal of Black male characters. The book has been removed from libraries and curricula in Texas, Florida, Virginia, South Carolina, and beyond. Walker has noted that the very experiences her book depicts, abuse, poverty, and silencing, are what challengers seek to reproduce by removing it from shelves.