Tennessee School District Bans Alex Haley’s Roots From Libraries [VIDEO]

First published in 1976, Alex Haley’s book that became ‘Roots’ that later became a mini docuseries,  tells the story of Kunta Kinte, an African man kidnapped and sold into slavery, while tracing generations of his descendants in America. It is now 2026 and a new administration made their first day mission to erase African American history, now a Tennessee school district is banning Alex Haley’s ‘Roots’ under a controversial state law from libraries with backlash.

According to reports, Knox County Schools removed Roots: The Saga of an American Family earlier this month under Tennessee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act — a 2022 law that allows books to be challenged or removed over content involving sexual material, nudity, abuse, or what the state defines as “excessive violence.”

Knox County Schools reportedly said the decision was tied to a specific passage in chapter 84 that reviewers deemed “not age appropriate” under Tennessee law. District officials stressed the removal was “not a commentary on the literary or cultural value” of the book. Even so, the novel can still reportedly be taught in classrooms it just can’t remain on library shelves. 

See video below