Why was the book "The Color Purple" banned? What was done to allow the book "The Color Purple" not to be banned?

"The Color Purple" has been banned for a variety of reasons. Some of them include: homosexuality, sexual explicitness, offensive language, and "troubling ideas about race relations, man's relationship to God, African history, and human sexuality." As far as "The Color Purple" not being banned, it depends on the specific case as to why it was or was not allowed to be taught, read or left in a library. Usually some sort of committee will decide whether the literary merits of the book out weight the "negative" aspects of the book.