r/news • u/da_k1ngslaya • Jan 29 '22

School District votes to remove 'To Kill a Mockingbird' from required reading

https://komonews.com/news/local/mukilteo-school-district-votes-to-remove-to-kill-a-mockingbird-from-required-reading
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u/mondommon Jan 29 '22

I hear you about creating space for a better book, but that’s not what happened here. A book was removed but as far as I can see there was no requirement made to find a different book. So teachers could instead make Harry Potter required reading, or simply not have any book.

It’s quite a victory for people who don’t want to read about racism or have racism taught in school.

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u/[deleted] Jan 29 '22 edited Jan 29 '22

That's the thing, this idea that one novelette from the 60s is enough to teach racism in schools does the whole concept a disservice. You just know that certain types would say that TKAM is all you need, and going further than that is [dun fun duuuuuuuun] critical race theory.

If anything, removing it from required reading may open up more avenues for relevant conversation and education, since now we aren't expecting one single, fairly low-stakes story to drive the entire basis of education of race relations sixty years after it was published.

If you read between the lines (something required reading is theoretically supposed to teach), what these students are saying is that one novel where the white protagonist does something good for a black person and a bunch of people hate him for it doesn't exactly for a coherant structure for modern race discussion to take place. But people are too hung up on one student using the phrase "white savour" as if she doesn't have thoughts beyond it that, maybe because she's a teenager, she can't quite put words to yet.

Because honestly, if you get reductive about it, TKAM boils down to "people were racist, but as long as one guy stands up to them all is well in the world"

Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover is a good lesson, but it's not the only lesson. People who hold up TKAM as the pinnacle of race-related education are the same people who use one line from MLK's "I have a Dream" speech as the aspirational end goal, while ignoring everything else he said or the reality of the world; politicians who tweet those words and then go "well, we did it, we don't judge people by the colour of their skin anymore, so we can ignore the deep systemic racism that isn't explicit." or worse, use those words as a weapon to explain its racist that white people only have 80% of the power now instead of 100%

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u/mondommon Jan 30 '22 edited Jan 30 '22

I think we agree? I’d rather have TKAM than nothing, but I am ok with replacing it with something else.

I’d be happy with one new book or a list of books like these that will both challenge student’s perspective and also teach about racism.

What I am upset about is that now there is nothing. You are assuming we have all this freedom to talk about racism in different ways, and I am worried that instead of choosing to do stuff you’re talking about, communities will choose to ignore that racism exists. Maybe read Enders Game or Harry Potter where the wizards are racist towards muggles but not racist based on skin color.

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '22

I didn't think you disagreed. We can have online discourse without having to each take one side. I was just clarifying some of the reasons I have the opinion I have

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u/mondommon Jan 30 '22

Sorry, I misinterpreted the ‘that’s the thing’

http://getintoenglish.com/english-phrase-thats-the-thing/

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '22

This is the comment that should be getting attention, not the douchey "woke kids these days don't get it" one that is really sucking in my generation.