Duluth, Minnesota to DROP(not ban) "To Kill A Mocking Bird" in Public School Districts - Sensationalist Headlines

[url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2018/02/07/a-school-district-drops-to-kill-a-mockingbird-and-huckleberry-finn-over-use-of-the-n-word/?utm_term=.7a3f9a254d74]Source[/url] [quote]A Minnesota school district is dropping two classic novels, “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” from its required reading list because of the books’ liberal use of a racial slur. Officials at Duluth Public Schools say the move, which follows similar ones taken by other school districts in Virginia, Mississippi and Pennsylvania in recent years, was a response to complaints they had received in the past. The books are still available in libraries, and students can read them on their own time, but school officials will look at other novels on the same topic to add to its curriculum, Michael Cary, director of curriculum and instruction, told the Duluth News Tribune. “We felt that we could still teach the same standards and expectations through other novels that didn’t require students to feel humiliated or marginalized by the use of racial slurs,” Cary, who was not available for comment Wednesday, told the paper. Harper Lee and Mark Twain didn’t shy away from using the n-word when they wrote the American classics. Both books have historically been among the American Library Association’s list of 100 most frequently challenged books. Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” a story about a poor white boy and a slave, most recently made the list in 2015, when a group of students in Montgomery County in Pennsylvania said its use of the n-word made them uncomfortable. Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a book about racism in the United States, has long been targeted for removal from libraries and schools. In 1966, a school board in Virginia invited the ire of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, who mocked the board in a letter to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “Surely it is plain to the simplest intelligence that ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ spells out in words of seldom more than two syllables a code of honor and conduct, Christian in its ethic, that is the heritage of all Southerners,” Lee wrote. “To hear that the novel is ‘immoral’ has made me count the years between now and 1984, for I have yet to come across a better example of double-think.” “I feel, however, that the problem is one of illiteracy, not Marxism,” she added. “Therefore I enclose a small contribution to the Beadle Bumble Fund that I hope will be used to enroll the Hanover County School Board in any first grade of its choice.” Free-speech organizations also have strongly criticized decisions to ban the books from classrooms and libraries. In a statement Wednesday, the National Coalition Against Censorship urged Duluth Public Schools to reconsider.[/quote] "This thing talking about a difficult time in American history made me feel bad." [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Editoralized Title" - Kiwi))[/highlight]

The Banning of Books should be illegal

Soft cock rules

[QUOTE=Mio Akiyama;53118819]The Banning of Books should be illegal[/QUOTE] I mean this is essentially censorship. "It made them uncomfortable" well welcome to the fuckin' world man, you can't hide from it forever. TKAM tells an incredibly robust story that, though fictional, represents hundreds of similar cases in American history.

Yo can we ban any teaching of World War 1 and 2 pls? It makes me feel bad :( This is fucking ridiculous.

Great book. I remember another book often banned, Fahrenheit 451. [I]Ironically a book about censorship of books.[/I]

One of the few books I enjoyed reading in school, this is bullshit. [editline]8th February 2018[/editline] [QUOTE] “I feel, however, that the problem is one of illiteracy, not Marxism,” she added. “Therefore I enclose a small contribution to the Beadle Bumble Fund that I hope will be used to enroll the Hanover County School Board in any first grade of its choice.”[/QUOTE] Harpee Lee with the fuckin bantz

Why stop there, just don't teach about the bad parts of our history at all in school.

How many damn years have these books been and we are still doing this crap?

I guess we shouldn't show Roots in the classroom anymore either, people might get offended

stupid decision. TKAM is a fantastic book

book club is for nerds join the book burning club today

It's been banned in a couple places (or at least an attempt was made) in Canada as well.

That's kind of an editorialized title. They're just dropping it from the required reading list. You can still check it out from the library if you want. If it was an actual ban I'd get my hateboner going, but they say they're substituting it with other books, and there isn't exactly a shortage of great anti-racism books out there.

Why? To Kill a Mockingbird is extremely anti-racist, why would you ban it just for using a bad word [editline]9th February 2018[/editline] [QUOTE=thelurker1234;53118954]That's kind of an editorialized title. They're just dropping it from the required reading list. You can still check it out from the library if you want.[/QUOTE] Dropping it from the required reading list is still bad

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;53118814]“I feel, however, that the problem is one of illiteracy, not Marxism,” she added. “Therefore I enclose a small contribution to the Beadle Bumble Fund that I hope will be used to enroll the Hanover County School Board in any first grade of its choice.”[/QUOTE] Harper Lee bringing the heat.

What are they gonna ban next? Of Mice and Men? What a load of shit.

[QUOTE=Laserbeams;53118956]Why? To Kill a Mockingbird is extremely anti-racist, why would you ban it just for using a bad word [editline]9th February 2018[/editline] Dropping it from the required reading list is still bad[/QUOTE] It's nowhere near a ban though. Choosing not to integrate it into your curriculum is not nearly the same as "banning" it.

Honestly I'm getting kind of tired of hearing this debate every year.

It's essential that we don't try and snuff out the word 'nigger' mindlessly. Kids need to know what the word is and understand it. They need to realize its full scope and context. Yes, it's a racist word. But it's something that must be known. This book is only a positive influence. It deserves to be in schools. Reading the 'bad word' isn't going to make people racist, being raised as a racist and sheltered from reality will. End of story.

[QUOTE=Tuskin;53118939]It's been banned in a couple places (or at least an attempt was made) in Canada as well.[/QUOTE] I know we had it in our library in high school but it was never assigned in class as far as I know. The title is really misleading title. There's a pretty big difference between banning and book and not including it on a reading list. There are other books that cover similar themes that would likely be more accessible to a modern school

[QUOTE=J!NX;53119106]It's essential that we don't try and snuff out the word 'nigger' mindlessly. Kids need to know what the word is and understand it. They need to realize its full scope and context. Yes, it's a racist word. But it's something that must be known. This book is only a positive influence. It deserves to be in schools. Reading the 'bad word' isn't going to make people racist, being raised as a racist and sheltered from reality will. End of story.[/QUOTE] Really I don't even consider this aspect important regarding the book and education about racism. Explicit direct racism is bad and so is the way nigger was used, this is something kids already know and it gets reinforced many times over. Teaching that more imo is kinda useless since it doesn't actually have much to do with how a lot of racism gets by and hurts people in modern society, for that you'll need something more along the lines of invisible man.

[QUOTE=Liem;53119110]There are other books that cover similar themes that would likely be more accessible to a modern school[/QUOTE] imo for american kids it should be mandatory reading. the perspectives on our history and culture it offers and its value as a timeless classic to boot can't be overstated. it was required reading in my american literature class (we also watched the film afterwards) and it spurred some of the best discussions i had in high school. not only that, but because it's on many reading lists you can go home and talk to your family and other friends about what it presents. and these days especially it could jumpstart a lot of conversations online as well as kids get into the book. what other books along the same historical/cultural lines have had a deep and widespread impact remotely comparable to TKaM? [editline]9th February 2018[/editline] [QUOTE=thelurker1234;53119189]Really I don't even consider this aspect important regarding the book and education about racism. Explicit direct racism is bad and so is the way nigger was used, this is something kids already know and it gets reinforced many times over. Teaching that more imo is kinda useless since it doesn't actually have much to do with how a lot of racism gets by and hurts people in modern society, for that you'll need something more along the lines of invisible man.[/QUOTE] counterpoint: teaching kids about how we used to be, in the right context, fuels a deeper understanding of how we've gotten to where we are as well as the value of not letting us fall prey to the same bigotry in the future. those who don't learn from history etc

In my opinion, TKAM should be required reading, it presents the [i]insane[/i] idea that justice should apply to everyone regardless of skin color. With the rise of racism in a lot of places, especially injustice against black people by the police, it should most definitely be required reading. People are also saying it's not a ban, which it isn't, but the reasoning for removing them from required reading is pretty dumb.

[QUOTE=Trebgarta;53119226]?? Where does it say ban? They are just removed from required reading? Not nice but what a load of pointless exaggerated outrage. Demonstrating again that Americans really don't know "censorship" or "book burning". I personally hated required reading of all sorts but I see the point and I'd rather it be required, but a "ban" is so much worse that the title should be edited.[/QUOTE] Because if you say it's banned in the title rather than "to be replaced on required reading list" (people who don't read the article, aka most) people are going to be more outraged

Reminded me of that feminist(?) female teacher who wanted to ban To Kill A Mockingbird at her school because it taught boys and girls that women can lie about rape.

in todays climate of absolute negligence to racial issues, teaching kids and reminding their parents there was a time where nigger jim was socially acceptable might be an important lesson, especially with a president who openly roots for nazis, white supremacists, and has made the subjugation of black athletes a part of official WH policy [editline]9th February 2018[/editline] also the scarlet letter still seems to cling to life even though its entire premise is pretty much pointless today. ya theres a feminist/sexist angle but there are better books for that and as a whole is totally a moot point in todays society. men aren't wracked by guilt when they concieve a child with a mistress, nor do women who have a child through an affair try to repent to god about their mistakes and blame themselves.

58 years and still we learn nothing from the stupidity of book bans involving this very book.

Everyone should read or watch the movie in their lifetime, it really is amazing and eye opening One of the only things I legit enjoyed in my English classes at school :rolleyes:

I hated reading this book so much in high school that I never finished it, and bullshitted my way through every assignment on it. Maybe I should try to read it again now that I'm not an angry teenager.