Virginia schools ban 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' 'Huckleberry Finn' for racial slurs

[thetopher]

Don't let school, ANY school, dictate what you should or should not read. Read it yourself if somebody tries to suppress it.

What's happening here is just the natural extention of things that have come before in other schools/universities/liberal way of life; if 'this' offends or challenges your preconcieved views then suppress it and hide your head in the sand.
Not being offended must trump every other consideration apparently, including the truth.

It's amazing what's happening on some US campus' right now. Scary stuff.

 

[The Bronze]

What is wrong with people not wanting to be offended is that no discussion and no learning is possible. There was a local university that tried to ban the use of the phrase "Israeli apartheid". If I were Palestinian, I would be offended about the ban because it describes the situation accurately. If I were to attend a course on modern history, there would be a very chilling effect - using a term of this type or any other landmine term would get me expelled or sanctioned in some way. So no objections could be made, no discussion could take place and the course would be indoctrination, not education.

This idea has now been picked up by the UK government which plans to restrict freedom of speech and the opportunity to criticise Israel:

Theresa May's gift to the pro-Israeli lobby

These ideas are the thin end of the wedge. Under the pleasant guise of wanting to protect people from harm and from having to deal with assholes in general, you actually are able to decide which ideas are beyond reproach and which groups are above the law. Coupled with the terrifying scale of mass surveillance that has now been introduced to the UK these are very dark times indeed.

 

[Bluebird]

This idea has now been picked up by the UK government which plans to restrict freedom of speech and the opportunity to criticise Israel:

Theresa May's gift to the pro-Israeli lobby

These ideas are the thin end of the wedge. Under the pleasant guise of wanting to protect people from harm and from having to deal with assholes in general, you actually are able to decide which ideas are beyond reproach and which groups are above the law. Coupled with the terrifying scale of mass surveillance that has now been introduced to the UK these are very dark times indeed.

Oh this is beyond ridiculous. So you can't criticise a government (not a religion or a person) for breaking international law? I hate the UK with a passion, lol. But then they are very scared. To say anything that isn't completely in agreement with the right wingers of Israel is a massive taboo. At least outside of my country. The UK's politics constantly lets me down.

 

[Fuffy]

Instead of banning books like they did in "Gingerbread", they need to teach kids how to develop a backbone and not get offended when they come across a derogatory term in old books that were written in a different time, would be much more helpful for life (especially now as Trump is about to enter The White House and make life worse for anyone who isn't a straight white male).

 

[Mr Trick]

Yep am with all of you. I've never read the book so can't comment whether it is actually racist or just reflecting the times. But I am against the banning of books or any culture. And believe that students should have the freedom to read anything they want and make the judgements for themselves.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

I can't believe I am going to say this but I support the school. The books are only being banned in some schools, and considering it's a public school, paid for and supported in large part by the community tax dollars then if the community decides that they don't want X book as part of the curriculum, as a public school, that needs to be addressed either by explaining why it needs to remain or removing it.

You have to pay for your kids to go to school, you should have a say upon what extracurricular books are located in the school's library. It's no different than some communities having their schools remove textbooks that spoke on and about evolution because they were offended by the content of said books. That is the beauty of being able to self-govern versus the federal government dictating what "everyone" must subject their children to.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

I hope they don't keep the books banned. I have a passion for literature (I majored in English for my Bachelor's degree) so I don't want any of the classics banned. It's terrible that they have those racial slurs in them but unfortunately that was how it was during the time periods when they were written (not that that's an excuse for the slurs).

I could not agree more with this statement. It's all about context.

That said, I personally think To Kill A Mockingbird is one of the more overrated books in our canon. However, I do not think any books should be banned. This isn't the 1950s. Children should be able to read and be taught books that were written in certain periods in our country's history. Just because some of our history is ugly doesn't mean we should censor it from our children.
And of course, we certainly need to add some books to the "canon" written by people of color. There are not nearly enough. And worth noting is even "Their Eyes Were Watching God" a book heralded as a classic, and also written by a black woman, has the n word.

It is all about context.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Children should be able to read ....

No one is saying that they can't. They have libraries and the interwebs where things off all sorts can be read. The school libraries are horrendous as it is, removing one or two titles based upon what the community wants isn't really that detrimental towards the average student's High School education.

 

[Slayerofslayers]

I could not agree more with this statement. It's all about context.

That said, I personally think To Kill A Mockingbird is one of the more overrated books in our canon. However, I do not think any books should be banned. This isn't the 1950s. Children should be able to read and be taught books that were written in certain periods in our country's history. Just because some of our history is ugly doesn't mean we should censor it from our children.
And of course, we certainly need to add some books to the "canon" written by people of color. There are not nearly enough. And worth noting is even "Their Eyes Were Watching God" a book heralded as a classic, and also written by a black woman, has the n word.

It is all about context.

I agree, all really good points. You can miss out on important content from literature if you never read things that have any uncomfortable content. And I also agree that To Kill A Mockingbird is overrated there are other classics I like a lot more. And yay for another English major here on the boards!

 

[Mr Trick]

No one is saying that they can't. They have libraries and the interwebs where things off all sorts can be read. The school libraries are horrendous as it is, removing one or two titles based upon what the community wants isn't really that detrimental towards the average student's High School education.

But that's not the point. The point for me is that art shouldn't be censored and that people should have the freedom to read what they want. And the other point is that great works of fiction should be available to as many people as possible.

 

[DeadlyDuo]

But that's not the point. The point for me is that art shouldn't be censored and that people should have the freedom to read what they want. And the other point is that great works of fiction should be available to as many people as possible.

That leads on to the reverse side of people shouldn't be forced to read what they don't want to read. If the boy doesn't want to read the book because he's "offended" by it, that's fine, but other people who do want to read it shouldn't be denied the opportunity to do so because of one person.

On a side note, I wish I was never made to read Cold Mountain for English A Level. It is the most boring book ever. I used the movie just to basically get me through the plot and that was only a lesser form of torture. On another side note, I had to read Of Mice and Men for English GCSE which included the N word as well. It was hard getting through the book (though much easier than Cold Mountain) but the movie was good and actually helped make it easier.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

@brinkster130 because that is what the school board ruled. That they did not want those books in the curriculum. The school board does not review or even know the curriculum unless they ask about it or issues are raised. An issue was raised and they deliberated on it. Now it's going before another committee to vote whether the superintendant was in the right for removing it from the curriculum. One person's opinion didn't decide anything; a group of people did, does and will.

 

[Mr Trick]

That leads on to the reverse side of people shouldn't be forced to read what they don't want to read. If the boy doesn't want to read the book because he's "offended" by it, that's fine, but other people who do want to read it shouldn't be denied the opportunity to do so because of one person.

On a side note, I wish I was never made to read Cold Mountain for English A Level. It is the most boring book ever. I used the movie just to basically get me through the plot and that was only a lesser form of torture. On another side note, I had to read Of Mice and Men for English GCSE which included the N word as well. It was hard getting through the book (though much easier than Cold Mountain) but the movie was good and actually helped make it easier.

Well I don't think anyone is forcing him to read it, its just that if they happen to be covering the book in class then he may struggle with the assignment if he doesn't read it, but of course its his right to refuse to read it. Watching the film is a good alternative to get him into the story.

Out of interest did you struggle with the content of Of Mice and Men because you felt it was racist? Or did you think that it was just reflecting the time, but was still a struggle to get through? On a similar note, I had to watch Birth of a Nation once for a film class. And with it being extremely racist, but also, three hours long it meant I had to watch it in three or four installments🙄

 

[DeadlyDuo]

Out of interest did you struggle with the content of Of Mice and Men because you felt it was racist? Or did you think that it was just reflecting the time, but was still a struggle to get through? On a similar note, I had to watch Birth of a Nation once for a film class. And with it being extremely racist, but also, three hours long it meant I had to watch it in three or four installments🙄

I think it was reflecting the time because the black character was actually portrayed quite positively as was the mentally challenged one, plus they were treated decently by some of the other characters. There were certain characters whose attitudes towards them were racist but those particular characters weren't meant to be viewed positively. My main issue with the book was mainly that you weren't allowed to just read and enjoy the book but were forced to write essays on the themes etc which actually took the enjoyment out of the book. Cold Mountain was worse.

 

[Mr Trick]

I think it was reflecting the time because the black character was actually portrayed quite positively as was the mentally challenged one, plus they were treated decently by some of the other characters. There were certain characters whose attitudes towards them were racist but those particular characters weren't meant to be viewed positively. My main issue with the book was mainly that you weren't allowed to just read and enjoy the book but were forced to write essays on the themes etc which actually took the enjoyment out of the book. Cold Mountain was worse.

That's a good point. And often the way into difficult subjects can be by making it a little bit more accessible. Not to mention that art should be subjective🙂 Well member Cold Mountain was just a boring book😛