Posted on 10/14/2017 11:31:15 AM PDT by EdnaMode
The Biloxi School District got complaints about the wording in To Kill A Mockingbird an American classic being taught in 8th grade English Language Arts classes and pulled it from the curriculum.
It was an administrative and department decision, a member of the school board said, and not something that the school board voted on. It happened Wednesday or Thursday.
Kenny Holloway, vice president of the Biloxi School Board said, There were complaints about it. There is some language in the book that makes people uncomfortable, and we can teach the same lesson with other books.
Its still in our library. But theyre going to use another book in the 8th grade course.
When asked Thursday morning if the book had been pulled from the course, Superintendent Arthur McMillan issued a statement five hours later that said: There are many resources and materials that are available to teach state academic standards to our students. These resources may change periodically. We always strive to do what is best for our students and staff to continue to perform at the highest level.
McMillan did not answer any questions on the issue.
Sun Herald received a email from a concerned reader who said the decision was made mid-lesson plan, the students will not be allowed to finish the reading of To Kill A Mockingbird .... due to the use of the N word.
The reader said, I think it is one of the most disturbing examples of censorship I have ever heard, in that the themes in the story humanize all people regardless of their social status, education level, intellect, and of course, race. It would be difficult to find a time when it was more relevant than in days like these.
The current themes for 2nd term language arts classes in Biloxi this year are the Golden Rule and taking a stand. With To Kill A Mockingbird specifically, the teens were slated to learn that compassion and empathy are not dependent upon race or education, according to the schools website.
The book is listed on the curriculum as core text for 8th grade ELA, the Common Core state standards for English Language Arts.
One 8th grade teacher on the school website described it as: Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into 10 languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.
A Southern gothic novel, it was published in 1960, won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction the next year and was adapted into an Oscar-winning film in 1962.
The plot deals with rape and racial inequality in a small Southern town. The events and characters are loosely based on author Harper Lees observations of an event that happened near her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, in the 1930s, when when she was young.
Monroeville has recently looked at ways to develop new attractions and draw more tourists based on its association with the book.
The American Library Association lists To Kill A Mockingbird as No. 21 in the most banned or challenged books in the last decade.
‘Tale of My Two Mommies’ could be the replacement; if not the companion book, ‘Stories My Two Dads Told Me’ will be used, depending on the gender makeup of the classes.
There is some language in the book that makes people uncomfortable...Umm, that was the whole point of
Mental midgets
My daughter read it in 7th grade with no problems. "Adult and disturbing" would be the garbage peddled on TV that too many kids that age (and younger) watch all the time!
I didn’t know that government schools still taught kids how to read. Most kids today struggle to read what’s printed on an M&M.
I do think 8th grade is too early for the subject matter.
Now how do we go about having all Dickens books removed?
More “educator” uber-nitwits abusing children’s minds. Of course, these losers hide under the rubric “for the children”.
Tale of My Two Mommies could be the replacement; if not the companion book, Stories My Two Dads Told Me will be used, depending on the gender makeup of the classes.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
If YOU were to ‘complain’ about either YOU would be subject to reeducational camps to cleanse your mind and your children would be ‘taken away’.
I guess it is fairly safe to say that “Blazing Saddles” (the original UNCUT version) is not on the ‘required reading list’.
Can’t put “Catch 22” on the list as most of the students - well Teachers - would NEVER understand the gist of the story..
The film,OTOH,is one of my top ten favorites which I watch,on average,once a year along with a number of other favorites.
I certainly could be wrong regarding my "college age and up" remark.But my viewpoint is partially based on the fact (or the assumption on my part) that the book might not have the same impact it might have had 50 (or more) years ago because of how different things are today.
Case in point...me,1969,reporting to Fort Knox,KY for Basic Training.A boy from the suburbs of Boston finds himself in a Company made up mostly of guys from Tennessee,Mississippi and Texas...most of them white but a few black.When I realized that I said to myself "My God...this could get ugly".Turns out there wasn't a *lick* of trouble from anyone...black *or* white.
How do we know that To Kill A Mockingbird isn’t just full of lies? Perhaps the book is just early leftists attacking the “Trump supporters” of that time.
Scout wasn’t a transgender.
This garbage has done nothing more than spread the racism it claims to combat while training the intended victims to fight for their own defeat. I cant believe so many fall for this crap. The posturing makes me want to puke and signalling makes me want to smack some sense into every one of them.
You remind me of my father - he was a Bk’lyn boy during the 2nd World War and was sent to join the Dixie Division. They kidded him mercilessly and told him tall tales of being married to their sisters. But when he was stuck in the jungles of the Japan theater of war, it was those boys who taught him to survive in the open!
Also, maybe kids today don’t have the reading skills we did.
Yes, 8th grade is too young for kids to have to grapple with the concept of the chifferobe.
It’s the rape and incest I think they should avoid until older.
I see your point. It has been a very long time since I read the novel (when I was in high school—not as an assignment). Of course the young black man who is accused of rape is innocent but I guess it is hinted that the man who accused him (and later tried to kill Atticus’ children) was guilty of incest...I don’t know if that is clear enough for an 8th-grader to pick up on it.
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