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Ok. Here is my perspective on a similar situation:
I am of Vietnamese descent. I went to a MN high school where I was the only Vietnamese as far as I know, and the total East Asian population of said high school was probably close to 1.5%, with the rest majority White.
During my high school American history class, we studied the Vietnam War, from the American perspective naturally. I was not only the only Asian in the class, but as everyone knew, the only Vietnamese. And to top off the uncomfortableness of the whole situation, my teacher was a Vietnam Vet. All this occurring less than 15 years after the traumatic (for everyone involved) end of the war.
How did I feel? Similar to the complaints of those mentioned in OP. Should I have demanded the school district remove this part of American history from the curriculum?
No. I’m glad I was exposed to the American perspective in the historical context of American society leading up to it, and the fallout from it.
Book banning is a thing and 'celebrated' by libraries (including elementary school libraries) every year.
I had a friend try to 'ban' a book on the environment because she felt it promoted the left agenda of climate change.
The very sweet media specialist/librarian who was a devout conservative had to explain how the principles in the book of looking after the planet had little to do with a 'left agenda' and more to do with promoting looking after the Earth that God created.
REligious groups were constantly trying to ban Harry Potter.
Like films -- recognizing books were written in a specific era or depict a certain culture is important -- taking the context of the books with the time -- so good to put a notice about the use of raciste terms, etc....but banning is truly about erasing culture/history and important for us to have access to learn and grown
Well, one is INCLUSIVE, and one is EXCLUSIVE. In a nutshell.
so ban, boycott, burn, remove the book that you don't like, and ensure that a book that fits your agenda is allowed....the Nazi's would be proud of their grandchildren the American liberals
so ban, boycott, burn, remove the book that you don't like, and ensure that a book that fits your agenda is allowed....the Nazi's would be proud of their grandchildren the American liberals
oh dear you've stepped in it with blaming liberals for banning of books.
They learned the lessons well from the conservatives before them.
It is naive and ignorant not to know how both left and right call for the ban of materials in order to push forward their agenda
I'm black, and read both books as a kid/teenager. I wasn't even forced to. I do think, that I also, had to read To Kill a Mocking Bird as a class project in my majority black school system. I was so oppressed that I still have nightmares about it.
I was even more oppressed when I read Robinson Crusoe and he had Friday as a slave/servant. I was so oppressed I read the book twice.
That language used in books in contextual history of the time and really shouldn't be offensive based on the time period and settings. Seems likes the adults are more upset based on the article.
With that said,just to make things messy. I still agree with removing confederate statutes from state owned properties, with the exceptions of a few circumstances.
Yeah, there comes a point when you have to realize that even the most progressive authors were not exactly immune to the zeitgeist of their day. You might as well ban a whole slew of authors (White and Black) from mid 20th century and earlier from the curriculum.
I guess being one of the very few black kids in class can have the awkward moments of potentially hearing your white or non-black classmates reading out loud some racial language in the novels. Like you, I was in a majority Black school, so not really a problem.
Book banning is a thing and 'celebrated' by libraries (including elementary school libraries) every year.
I had a friend try to 'ban' a book on the environment because she felt it promoted the left agenda of climate change.
The very sweet media specialist/librarian who was a devout conservative had to explain how the principles in the book of looking after the planet had little to do with a 'left agenda' and more to do with promoting looking after the Earth that God created.
REligious groups were constantly trying to ban Harry Potter.
Like films -- recognizing books were written in a specific era or depict a certain culture is important -- taking the context of the books with the time -- so good to put a notice about the use of raciste terms, etc....but banning is truly about erasing culture/history and important for us to have access to learn and grown
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Quote:
Originally Posted by workingclasshero
so ban, boycott, burn, remove the book that you don't like, and ensure that a book that fits your agenda is allowed....the Nazi's would be proud of their grandchildren the American liberals
I'm not banning anything. Or removing any books from curriculum. I'm just sitting around wasting time chatting on a forum.
I will say, I served on a committee that considered which books belong in the public school middle school library and I never nixed any of the books on the list. So there's that. I wouldn't have been thrilled that all those books were taught and required in the classroom, but allowing access in the library is fine. A positive.
And really, how very odd to compare Nazis with American Liberals. Exactly the opposite. It was liberals who ran the safe houses and tried to protect those who were targeted. How in the world do you not know this?
One of the few and only books that should be banned are like "The Anarchist's Cookbook", which describes how to make lethal booby traps, car bombs, ect................
Despite being a staunch supporter of 1st amendment rights, I similarly think an "instruction manual" for creating nuclear devices and WMD should be prohibited.
Everything else is okay. Heck, my older brother (also a doc) has the nickname "Nig*er Jim" since he was a kid. This nickname was conferred by the local nickname craftsman (a black kid named "Smoke") who originated most of the nicknames in the neighborhood. I was "Buckwheat", as I had hair like an afro. Everyone was addressed by their nickname, not their regular name. EVERYONE who knew my brother when he was a kid still calls him by his nickname.
Banning characters such as "Nig*er Jim" is absurd. Huck's literal and figurative journey down the Mississippi with Jim was a journey of understanding and a realization that Jim was just like him. So........... when the fascists advocate burning books, they are destroying a legacy of knowledge and understanding that people SHOULD KNOW and be able to read. Mark Twain was quite a "progressive" fellow for his time who was a supporter of equal rights for all. Only the modern American Taliban could paint such a figure and his writings as "villainous", as they do not serve their evil, totalitarian agenda.
This one school district, Duluth, has removed these two books from the curriculum but not the library.
Do you see the point of the very few black parents in the district who raised this complaint? They are sending their children, who comprise 1.5 percent of the school population, and feel that these two books made their children feel even less included and more distanced in their schools.
Can you empathize with their position?
No, I can't. The express message of TKAM is anti-racism. How do some people not get that?
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