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State School Board President Backtracks From Remarks About Book

Ohio School Board president Debe Terhar says her characterization of Ohio native Toni Morrison's Book "The Bluest Eye" as "pornographic" was a personal opinion not a board position. Terhar says she sees the novel's graphic passages as unsuitable for school-aged children. But Terhar says she remains "completely supportive of Ohio's new learning standards," which list the 1970 novel among recommended texts.The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio challenged her earlier statements that the book should be banned, calling the young African-American girl who's raped and impregnated by her father in the book "a haunting symbol of internalized racism." Terhar was nearly fired in February after sharing a Facebook post that equated President Obama to Adolf Hitler.

Jim has been with WCBE since 1996. Before that he worked as a reporter at another Columbus radio station, and for three newspapers in Southwest Florida.
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