KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Alex Haley’s historical novel “Roots” is back on Knox County Schools library shelves, but its temporary removal under Tennessee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act raised questions about state law. In this week’s Ask Isaacs, 6 News anchor Lori Tucker and Attorney Greg Isaacs sit down with Tennessee State Representative Gloria Johnson to discuss the law and the return of “Roots” to libraries.
On May 14, Knox County Schools released its updated list of book titles removed from its libraries under the Age-Appropriate Materials Act. Alongside other previously removed titles, including “Water for Elephants,” “A Court of Thorns and Roses” and “A Clockwork Orange,” Haley’s “Roots” was also listed.
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“Roots” is a historical novel that traces Haley’s family ancestry through the mid-Atlantic slave trade. Among other accounts, one chapter of the novel includes the description of the rape of an enslaved woman by a plantation owner.
The removal “Roots’ sparked backlash, with Knox County School Board Member Katherine Bike (District 4) arguing the novel was not the type of book the Tennessee General Assembly had intended to be removed when it passed the Age-Appropriate Materials Act in 2022…