The 1952 book Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon is a political and psychological critique explaining the reason people of color sometimes experience feelings of dependency and inadequacy by virtue of living in colonial societies or countries dominated by white culture.Although the book is widely acclaimed and relevant today, the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) has placed this classic on its “banned book” list, meaning that prisoners cannot obtain or read it.

In June 2019 the ACLU of Michigan joined with the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center at Howard Law School in writing a letter to the MDOC explaining how the censorship violates inmates’ free speech rights and urging that the book be removed from the list of prohibited publications.

(ACLU Attorney Michael J. Steinberg; Professor Justin Hansford of Howard University Law School.) 

Status

Defending liberty