Head of schools bans novel after complaint

By Gwen Florio, Rocky Mountain News
February 4, 2005

Parents who objected to a book assigned to a ninth-grade English class in southwestern Colorado confiscated all the copies and "tossed them in the trash," said the man whose wife led the fight against Bless Me, Ultima, an award-winning Chicano novel.

The books weren't burned, as had been reported, John Oliver said. Instead, about two dozen copies were turned over to the Olivers to be destroyed.

"We put them in the trash can and it goes to a landfill," Oliver said. "It was just our way of knowing it would be gone."

Norwood schools superintendent Bob Conder banned the book - which is included in a list of nine novels recommended by First Lady Laura Bush - after Rhonda Oliver complained about its profanity. Conder made the decision immediately after the Olivers visited his office and outlined their objections, Oliver said.

"Rhonda and myself physically picked up the books and took them home," Oliver said.

Conder's swift action sparked an outcry in the town of 472 people west of Telluride.

Jimmie Carter, minister at the Norwood Southern Baptist Church, said he hadn't read the book, but supports Conder's decision.

"It talks about sexual acts. It has filthy language. If you can't print the book in your newspaper, I don't see why our children should be reading it," he said.

But others objected to Conder's unilateral decision to yank the book after a single complaint, rather than submitting it for a review by the school board.

"I was surprised in the way it was handled," said Linda Soucie, whose son, Jared, is a junior at the high school.

"To do something like this seems a little barbaric," said Soucie, a substitute teacher at the school.

The book has been banned in other schools throughout the country, and ranked 33 on the American Library Association's list of 100 banned books last year.

High schools in Porterville, Calif., rejected it in 1992, saying it has "many profane and obscene references, vulgar Spanish words and glorifies witchcraft and death," according to the library association.

Bless Me, Ultima describes a young New Mexico boy's inner conflict between his own Catholicism and the practices of Ultima, a healer staying with the family.

One parent, who asked not to be named, said the teacher sent home a permission slip when the book was assigned, offering another book as an alternative to anyone who objected to Bless Me, Ultima, by Albuquerque author Rudolfo Anaya. The book won the Premio Quinto Sol national award in 1972.

"This is ridiculous," said the woman.

"We have morals and are good upstanding people. . . . I'm not fearful of such things.

"I thought it sounded interesting and was looking forward to reading it."

Indeed, the Norwood Public Library got three requests to put it on reserve the day the controversy became public, said Barbara Youngblood, the 25-year library director.

"For sure, a lot of kids are going to read the book who never would have read it," said Youngblood, who has ordered extra copies to supplement the library's lone volume, checked out a week and a half ago.

Bless Me, Ultima

• Author: Rudolfo Anaya

• What: Winner of the Premio Quinto Sol national literary award for best Chicano novel of 1972. It is the story of a young New Mexican boy growing up during World War II. Antonio Juan Marez y Luna befriends Ultima, a curandera - healer - staying with his family, and struggles with the contrast between his own Catholic faith and the healing that Ultima offers. One school that banned the novel said it contains obscenities and glorifies witchcraft.

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