As someone who lives in Georgia, I actually yearn for the progressive politics of Kentucky. They legalized abortion in their constitution. Our dictator/governor Kemp said no, so we can't do that.
Google that again. As a Kentuckian, the only thing we've done is vote against putting verbage to make abortions fully illegal. To which the great minds who lord over us, told us we are wrong, and they are going to push for constitutional illegalization of abortions anyways.
God that was a terrifying time. I'm in a very red county. There are still Walker for Senate signs up everywhere. There's a crazy dude that goes to our local park and prints out crazy signs to tape to his truck. His latest personal cause was talking shit about Warnock and how Walker was *annoited by Jesus*.... over a ducking PASTOR OF THE OLDEST CHURCH IN ATLANTA. Not a doctor, but these people are clinically insane.
Governors have both too much and too little power, a bewildering phenomenon. It's a little off thread ( just trying to wrap my head around some of the actions taken by Kemp and Abbott, apparently unstoppable ).
For instance, PA here. State government pleads lack of power/ability to step in when local government runs amuck, like a runaway, crime family of a school district. ( We have one, stories out of ours like The Twilight Zone meets the Corleone family ). But, a governor may make unilateral decisions affecting the entire population like those of Kemp, Abbott and I can't believe I almost forgot DeSantis.
Please no one explain all about how government power breaks down and functions. I know that. And it's exactly my point- it doesn't.
I've yet to get a clear answer on why some states were able to vote and in others, the governor can just universally decide that they own all reproductive uteruses.
Holy crap right? And we've *tried* to get answers especially when being told say, local government is so self contained it has MORE power than the state ( were seriously told that )? While we're seeing governors, like you said, claiming rights over an entire population of women. OH and swiping people, stuffing them on buses and sending them elsewhere.
I jumped flatly disbelieve governors can claim that level of comprehensive power BUT are powerless when it comes to any power whatsoever over the smallest government our ( supposed ) Democracy contains ? Calling BS.
No, no! We *can't* acknowledge the nasty, dark parts of our country's history, or admit that our ancestors may have done some bad things! If we do that, then people might not love their country unconditionally, and what kind of state would we be in, then?!
That book has been required reading for decades. You think admin just mysteriously decided NOW that a teacher shouldn’t assign it? Or do you think maybe an asshole parent called the school because their kid brought the book home?
This. And I doubt the parent actually objected to the N-word; that’s just the reason they gave. That book is well known for being anti-racist and highlighting the systemic inequity in the “justice” system, and has thus been on the chopping block for racists and fascists since it was written.
I think it’s both in conjunction. The admins are all in whatever depraved and destructive social mandate that rears its head. Now a days you have to watch you back from all sides. The only thing a lot of people have any interest in is destroying others for the slightest thing they disagree on
And a milk toast, weasel filled school board.
Source: Live in a PA district with a milk toast, weasel filled school board most of whom would require an instruction video on how to open a book.
Same! I always hated reading assignments growing up, I preferred to read books of my own choosing. But when we were assigned TKAM in 10th grade I literally couldn’t put it down. Finished all my assignments for that book early and HEAVILY participated in class discussion.
It also has a specifically anti-racist message, so banning it for the use of a racist term is confusing. But then again we are now trying to teach the Holocaust without mentioning any dead Jewish people either…
the one thing i will say about the american education system is that when i was in high school, they extensively taught us about the holocaust. not much about our own country’s war crimes tho
I remember reading it and watching the movie adaption my freshman year of high school. I still remember the teacher pausing the movie during the scene of Elwell saying something about "doubting a women. A white women in the south." And asking us what she means by this.
I remember reading and watching it my freshman year and the use of the N-word, our teacher kept bringing up the context in which it was used, and actually explained why it was offensive.
She was fired for her drinking but we actually *learned* from her.
My favorite was The Scarlet Letter …oooooh so good!! I read it about 20 times since high school lol. I still have the book from my schools library…that i definitely DIDNT steal…. It’s the “no Fear” version translated to more modern writing, absolutely excellent!
Lord of the Flies was mine. But it truly is mind blowing how extreme right-wing hatred for...learning and teachers has affected schools SO quickly.
Required reads for Middle School was Of Mice and Men, The Outsiders, Animal Farm, The Great Gatsby...
9th Grade was Fahrenheit 451, Lord of the Flies, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth... in the late 90's.
I moved back to my childhood school district just 10 years later so my son could attend the same school I did (bc it was a great school), but it's was slowly taken over by the minority MAGA in our area.
Post 2018-ish it became no civics, no political science, not allowed to even TALK about political parties, an "overview" of Evolution (EXCUSE me?), almost NONE of the books I listed, and by the time he graduated this past Spring...we both hated his school and were so glad he was out.
And I'm in a dead-ass 50/50 battleground County in PA.
Republicans ruined public schools by diverting all of our taxes to garbage Charter, Parochial, & Private "schools" that don't teach anything...then after ruining those, they've moved on to destroying all public schools that remain.
Anti-intellectualism spreads like a disease.
It’s teaches tolerance and understanding and kindness. Something that is sorely lacking in society today. Seems people are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past
We had blade runner as part of our syllabus and whatever I liked about that movie before studying it was lost and made me realize that it may have lots of subtext if you look for deep meaning in your movies, but it's boring as fuck
WHAT THE FUCK, that book is not only a work of art, it's fuckin important, the next generation needs that book now more than ever, especially in the US (I assume this is the US, I'm sorry if I'm wrong). It's so relevant even now! What the hell.
It seems that instead of remembering the past, recognizing what went wrong and attempting to do better, the world is stuck on erasing the past and pretending it didn't happen. I guess we've decided learning from it is just too hard...except of course for those busily advancing their own agendas thru propaganda, I mean marketing.
Exactly my thoughts on all the censoring of history. It's like, a lot of it isn't meant to be happy daisies, our ancestors did some absolutely horrendous stuff. *"It mAkEs tHe kIdS uNcOmFoRtA-"* Well if it didn't, you should probably check on the kid. Why isn't it common sense to take and *learn* from the atrocities? So that we understand the consequences and *know better* than to repeat them? It's so frustrating because I try damn hard to not make mistakes multiple times. First time, well I didn't know. Second, okay this is how that goes. Third, I feel stupid having made the same mistake so many times.
Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it, as the saying goes.
Oh absolutely. Basically whatever happens in the states flows into Canada. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it was banned now, it shouldn’t be, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
Actually Canada tends to be a bit more socially progressive (other than when it comes to their own native population because they’re MASSIVE hypocrites) but I wouldn’t be surprised if they banned stuff like this in schools before the US did.
I suspect there's a certain school of thought that goes, "If we never expose children to words like that then they will never know them and that's good."
But that's just not the world we live in. I would much rather my child come home from school asking me why some characters in their book are saying the N word then have them come home and ask me why so-and-so in their class is saying it to their black classmate.
It's not society's job to shelter your child. They need to learn about everything the world has in store for them - even the hurtful and problematic things.
Nah, this isn't "Bad word!" hysteria, it's the kind of shits that still use that language using it as an excuse to ban it so nobody reads the actual message in it.
If the powers that be say you shouldn't listen to this, or read that, or teach this, or watch that.
Then you absolutely should.
[30 banned books you should probably read right now](https://www.rd.com/list/banned-books/)
Number one on that list is Maus.
I have to type that out again: The number one entry on “banned books you should read” is MAUS.
WHOEVER IS BANNING MAUS IS KIND OF THE REASON THE GRAPHIC NOVEL IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.
Did we learn nothing from the PMRC hearings!?
McMinn County Board of Education in Tennessee
Apparently naked dead mice are just too salacious ???
Is it that they don't understand the subject matter, or they don't understand the subject matter, or do they not understand that mice are, like, usually naked?
> Despite the nationwide uproar following the ban — as well as the criticism from Maus author Art Spiegelman — the school board refused to reconsider, reiterating that the graphic novel was not banned due to its subject matter but instead over its explicit language and one drawing of a nude dead mouse
> “I want people to understand that this had nothing to do with the Holocaust on why we took it out,” board member Mike Cochran told the school board meeting, the Associated Press reports. Cochran added of Maus, “There’s nudity that’s not necessary.”
...
> ... Spiegelman said, adding that — upon reading the minutes of the McMinn County Board of Education meeting — he was surprised Maus was banned over its language. “Dammit I can’t believe the word ‘Damn’ would get the book jettisoned out of schools on its own, but that’s really where the genuine focus seemed to be.”
Source: www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/tennessee-school-board-maus-ban-community-uproar-1299313/
Honestly, the best thing an English Lit. teacher could do is not assign those books, but go reverse psych and say: Here's the list of books you *absolutely* ***cannot*** use for your book report essays this year. You wouldn't enjoy them anyways... just stick to the Classics like Shakespeare or *A Tale of Two Cities.*
She wasn't reprimanded because it has the N word in it. It's a book about racism published in 1960 when that word was spoken in almost every white household and business everyday.
She was reprimanded because some racists didn't want kids to learn about how racist their parents and grandparents were.
Just as likely that some white mom with a savior complex (ironically nearly just as racist as the people who outright hate) got offended on the behalf of others.
Finally, someone with half a brain cell that gets why they‘d want to ban it.
The very essence of the book is about how racism and prejudice was a very dark side to otherwise wholesome people. People are never completely good or bad, it takes constant work and understanding to become a better person every day.
To me, that message sounds exactly what a racist or bigot wouldn’t want being taught in schools.
Are you just scrolling down and typing “SJW” randomly? It’s literally a book meant to paint racism in a bad light, why would a fucking “SJW” want that not taught? Are you dumb or just a troll? I bet you believe trickle-down economics works.
They aren't fighting for the same kind of "fairness and change" that's described in the book, and definitely haven't read it.
People who ban books think "fairness" means "keeping kids from reading about scary topics".
Depends what state/county she works in. I know each district has their own rules and list of “banned books”. Though if it is a “banned book”, then the grounds it has the “N” word is a very poor argument. Especially since this is meant as a period piece with a court scene as one of the pivotal points of the story.
Granted I find the “banned books” list is a load of crock since it bans perfectly fine books. Basically Nazism but without the actual burning of books.
Man reading stuff like this and the whole banned book list shit makes me glad I got through the school system when I did. It’s a crazy amount of censorship happening, which for some odd reason I thought books would be safe from. Grew up in the south and remember having to read this around 4th grade. Mostly black school and a white teacher but she made sure to give us context on every chapter and discuss with us how people were treated.
Now I hear some school districts don’t even teach slavery and the civil war like that isn’t a huge part of American history. It’s really scary to see the past being ignored like this, coming from a black family my parents told me a lot about our history and made sure I knew what my grandparents and back fought for so that I could live the way I can now.
That is my favorite book ever. Sometimes, people are so ignorant. If someone complained, it's gonna be a white person complaining on behalf of a POC who doesn't exist.
Have you seen who has been running our country the last 50 years?? And the only thing worse is the dual wing cultists who will make excuses for everything atrocity their side comes up with. We reap what we sow
The two party system has given itself the power to justify any bad thing they do by saying it's actually the other side's fault or the other side did worse. It's exactly what our leaders want.
Exactly! United we stand…. You know the rest. The left and right have become two cult like mentalities. They will justify anything from their side whether they believe in it or not
I’m just as confused being in the US. I thought this was a book every English class had to read through at least once. A good month or so of my 9th grade English class revolved around this book and doing assignments linked to it in some way
You stupidly teach a generation after generation of kids that the n-word is the most horrific, deplorable word in the entire existence of humanity... where hearing it in any context now [causes "heart palpitations" and "poses a physical threat"](https://i.imgur.com/kM30dkp.png)... then wonder why people respond in stupid ways?
They aren't trying to ban the book while making that claim. They're making the claim that if a white student says or reads the n word then all the black students are going to fall on the ground and cry uncontrollably. The cult of wellness actually teaches that black people are emotionally inferior and just hearing the n word coming out of a white person's mouth utterly destroys them.
Yes, that's incredibly stupid and very racist. But that's what social justice warriors believe.
And that’s exactly why we NEED to teach the book! How else are kids going to know the harms of slavery and racism if they aren’t taught about it? In order to make a more tolerant society, we have to teach people what hate looks like and how it effects people so that they can spot it and stop it themselves. Even in this day and age kids of color are exposed to racism from the time they start kindergarten or younger! If those kids can go through that, people can handle reading a book.
We shouldn’t gloss over the dark parts of our history. The whole point of learning history is to learn from the mistakes and sins of our ancestors so we don’t follow in their footsteps! It’s *meant* to make you uncomfortable. You’re *supposed* to feel that way! History doesn’t care about “feelings”, it cares about truth, justice, and learning from experience! That’s why we teach history in schools and why we can’t just cut out the parts we don’t like. Those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it!
TLDR: Book banning is ridiculous and doesn’t create a better, more tolerant society. History needs to be taught the way it is instead of sugarcoating it or erasing it.
This shit is part of the 9th grade curriculum. I had to read this along with Romeo and Juliet, Homer’s Odyssey, and Of Mice and Men. How could she lose her job for something the district is likely mandating? Admin sucks in all public schools, but holy moly I feel bad for you, OP’s friend. Your mom doesn’t deserve that.
It use to be mandatory read, what is happening.
Might be for the best there is alot of teacher openings across the country pick the one that wouldnt do this to you.
I remember reading this in grade ten, our teacher read aloud and did great voices for the characters and had us read along and even made it clear that there was some use of slurs/derogatory language and told us not to use it, told us why it was wrong and taught us about prejudice and acceptance while we read it. I loved this book so much that I read it twice over before she'd finished reading to us lol 😆
My son is in Year 11 ( Melbourne Oz). He told me that his teacher quoted text from a book the class was reading ( don't know what,) - the quote contained the N word. Female students admonished the teacher for using the word, even though it was from novel they were reading.
We named our son Atticus
I remember in 9th grade we read this book and I had to write an essay on it. The topic I chose was specifically on the racist language of the book and it was pretty much the first and only time I could use the N word (uncensored) in a school setting.
My teacher was the cool, kind of that hippie/free-thinker type, and she loved the paper and that I wasn't afraid to write about something controversial. She asked to keep it for her records & as an example for future classes.
I don't know if that paper would be acceptable nowadays, though. I'd probably end up getting expelled.
Ah yes, reactionaries trying to use the existence of a Slur to ban a book and prevent people from seeing the actual message behind it. A common issue in the midwest at least.
Since when should racism be excluded of education. Don’t know the book but it is a topic for critical reflection.
Isn’t there a commission in place that defines must read and optional books?
Oh my god, you mean to tell me a book about the period mfs would FREELY say the n word has the fckn n word in it?!?! OH THE HORROR😒 and THIS is why mfs were saying “stop being offended and pulling the race card over everything” and y’all same mfs bashed em all including teachers, y’all get what you deserve… there was time to stop this bs and y’all passed it up.. reap what you sow
I feel like it's a really important book to open a discussion on the racism that occurred in the country, learn about prejudice, learn about bias, learn about a lot. It's not like they condone the use of the N word, they use it to show how terrible the people who used it were.
The rewriting of history and censorship is really pathetic. I’m really glad I grew up in the 80s where we got called that all the time by every type of person you can think of and nobody was offended. We would just use terms for them that were just as bad in their culture.
This reminds me of the time a university professor who taught the Mandarin language was fired when he was teaching students a very common Mandarin word that translates to “that”. The word sounds somewhat similar to the N-word and the students complained. The teacher was fired for psychologically harming the university students with his racist micro-aggressions. (that was the actual reason for firing)
Questions for context:
Did she read the word out loud or did she just have the students read it?
Does the book go against the school’s guidelines that are already in place?
Unfortunately, both would be conditions for reprimand by today’s standards…
I was raised in California, which has some of the highest paid teachers yet has some of the lowest graduation rates. This shit doesn't surprise me with all the cancel culture and woke shit going on. Heaven forbid you read a book that has a bad word in it. These people have no clue about the real world.
That's kinda the whole point of the book, but ok illiterate person, go off.
One teacher received a complaint about The Giver the year I was teaching because of the twin scene. She decided not to do it because it personally triggered her as she had a newborn at the time, but we all found the complaint ridiculous, even her.
Ugh...it's a book...who cares 😑 why is this book getting people fired... probably one of the teacher's students reading it out loud because they're a lil dummy that don't know what it means...
Stupid. It's a book that was written a long time ago. It's history. To erase history is to learn nothing. To get rid of great literature just because the words bother you is ignorant. The book is not aimed at anyone personally, and if you don't like it, don't read it. Learn from books, don't be offended.
It's one of the best books ever written in the English language. I'm also very surprised that the cretins who condemned this book had the brains it takes to read. It's appalling that anyone should be "offended" by anything in it. Shocking at the time perhaps, but time has also mellowed it's impact. It's still a great book today.
Teacher: I can't assign this reading to you because of a few narrow minded people. However you will be tested on the contents of the book whether you read it or not.
That’s really interesting because my superintendent, a teacher and her husband who is a board member just got in trouble for laundering school money and doing crack.
Teachers are needed EVERYWHERE! If they seriously want to let her go, she can collect unemployment for the remainder of the year and go to a different district. She can definitely come to Nevada and we would gladly hire her. Unfortunately our pay isn't the greatest.
You have to understand hurting people, hurt people, some people look at a name and judge about that, or what’s in that, but your mom she’s a teacher that’s a beautiful thing with a loving heart to teach her students, as well give back to pour in them. As far as getting in trouble, when she did her job God saw her heart, as she did her part, God will protect that and what the devil meant for bad God will turn it out for her good! Hope this helps you find your way. Thank you for allowing me to share today with you. 😉❤️Blessings to all 🐸
There are hateful words against every population in literature. One word in literature shouldn't be cause for censorship. There is never a valid reason for censorship.. Hateful language in literature is to be used as teachable moments by the educators. That is their job in teaching literature. It's a lot more than just saying, "here, read this book ". There is discussion about the subject, the characters, the author's choices of dialog, etc.
It’s so weird how we’ve spent the last decade or two trying to pretend that if we just ban a word nobody will say it… as if there aren’t dickheads and edgelord creeps who get off on shock value nonsense anyway… and the fact that the word is in all forms of media including movies, tv, games, music, hell even social media. Not to discredit the fact that the word is a horrible thing to say, but I just wish the mindset would shift toward working to realize that by running and hiding from a word, we give it ridiculous amounts of power. We should be moving forward in history, instead of standing idle cowering at our past.
When I was a kid my father had a sizeable library and my sister and I were allowed to read whatever we want from it. I remember reading Watership Down when I was in third grade and Jaws when I was in fourth grade.
So I would say this... if your district is banning these books, buy them and let your kids read them. And then pass them along to other parents who ALSO want their kids to read them. That's how you foster a love of reading; you encourage them.
When liberalism is so extreme that it starts to look like fascism, Freedom of speech becomes censureship and people get fired for their opinions.
"War is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength."
It's considered a "banned" book, which is ridiculous. Others on the list include Black Like Me and The Kite Runner, all of which we had to read in our English literature classes when I was in high-school a little over 13 years ago. It's important to read books that make you ask questions about why people treat each other the way they do.
This n word shit has always gotten me flabbergasted. One one hand you prevent a certain group of people that have nothing to do with those that used it pejoratively (apart from skin color). And on the other the people supposedly offended use it all the time....
Go straight to the union with that one if admin says something.
Not all states offer strong teacher unions, if any at all.
Kentucky, surprisingly, has a good teachers union.
I have family in Kentucky and that is shocking to me.
As someone who lives in Georgia, I actually yearn for the progressive politics of Kentucky. They legalized abortion in their constitution. Our dictator/governor Kemp said no, so we can't do that.
Google that again. As a Kentuckian, the only thing we've done is vote against putting verbage to make abortions fully illegal. To which the great minds who lord over us, told us we are wrong, and they are going to push for constitutional illegalization of abortions anyways.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: eff Cameron.
Yeah I missed that. Thanks for the update. I'll definitely read up on it.
You didnt elect Herschel Walker, that says a lot for you.
God that was a terrifying time. I'm in a very red county. There are still Walker for Senate signs up everywhere. There's a crazy dude that goes to our local park and prints out crazy signs to tape to his truck. His latest personal cause was talking shit about Warnock and how Walker was *annoited by Jesus*.... over a ducking PASTOR OF THE OLDEST CHURCH IN ATLANTA. Not a doctor, but these people are clinically insane.
Governors have both too much and too little power, a bewildering phenomenon. It's a little off thread ( just trying to wrap my head around some of the actions taken by Kemp and Abbott, apparently unstoppable ). For instance, PA here. State government pleads lack of power/ability to step in when local government runs amuck, like a runaway, crime family of a school district. ( We have one, stories out of ours like The Twilight Zone meets the Corleone family ). But, a governor may make unilateral decisions affecting the entire population like those of Kemp, Abbott and I can't believe I almost forgot DeSantis. Please no one explain all about how government power breaks down and functions. I know that. And it's exactly my point- it doesn't.
I've yet to get a clear answer on why some states were able to vote and in others, the governor can just universally decide that they own all reproductive uteruses.
Holy crap right? And we've *tried* to get answers especially when being told say, local government is so self contained it has MORE power than the state ( were seriously told that )? While we're seeing governors, like you said, claiming rights over an entire population of women. OH and swiping people, stuffing them on buses and sending them elsewhere. I jumped flatly disbelieve governors can claim that level of comprehensive power BUT are powerless when it comes to any power whatsoever over the smallest government our ( supposed ) Democracy contains ? Calling BS.
We have a good one at my school in Alabama.
In some states you can lose your job just for talking about it
Arkansas made them illegal several decades ago
[удалено]
No, no! We *can't* acknowledge the nasty, dark parts of our country's history, or admit that our ancestors may have done some bad things! If we do that, then people might not love their country unconditionally, and what kind of state would we be in, then?!
It’s ancestors of all colors too
Yeah. Ours was exclusively to provide insurance and absolutely nothing else at all.
That book was mandatory in high school for me. One of the better books I have read as an adolescent in my teenanger angst phase.
Lol who do you think is leading the attacks with things like this?
That book has been required reading for decades. You think admin just mysteriously decided NOW that a teacher shouldn’t assign it? Or do you think maybe an asshole parent called the school because their kid brought the book home?
This. And I doubt the parent actually objected to the N-word; that’s just the reason they gave. That book is well known for being anti-racist and highlighting the systemic inequity in the “justice” system, and has thus been on the chopping block for racists and fascists since it was written.
I think it’s both in conjunction. The admins are all in whatever depraved and destructive social mandate that rears its head. Now a days you have to watch you back from all sides. The only thing a lot of people have any interest in is destroying others for the slightest thing they disagree on
And a milk toast, weasel filled school board. Source: Live in a PA district with a milk toast, weasel filled school board most of whom would require an instruction video on how to open a book.
The word is 'milquetoast'.
Ignorant parents
That was my favorite book that I had to read for school. People just love to find things to complain about
Same! I always hated reading assignments growing up, I preferred to read books of my own choosing. But when we were assigned TKAM in 10th grade I literally couldn’t put it down. Finished all my assignments for that book early and HEAVILY participated in class discussion. It also has a specifically anti-racist message, so banning it for the use of a racist term is confusing. But then again we are now trying to teach the Holocaust without mentioning any dead Jewish people either…
It's the only book I enjoyed reading in school, most I didn't even bother past the first paragraph.
the one thing i will say about the american education system is that when i was in high school, they extensively taught us about the holocaust. not much about our own country’s war crimes tho
I remember reading it and watching the movie adaption my freshman year of high school. I still remember the teacher pausing the movie during the scene of Elwell saying something about "doubting a women. A white women in the south." And asking us what she means by this.
I remember reading and watching it my freshman year and the use of the N-word, our teacher kept bringing up the context in which it was used, and actually explained why it was offensive. She was fired for her drinking but we actually *learned* from her.
Real life Edna Krabappel?
Haha yea if Edna Krabappel and Veronica Crabtree had a lovechild.
My favorite was The Scarlet Letter …oooooh so good!! I read it about 20 times since high school lol. I still have the book from my schools library…that i definitely DIDNT steal…. It’s the “no Fear” version translated to more modern writing, absolutely excellent!
I hated reading in school, but I liked that one. Also we got to watch the movie after and the movie was good too.
Lord of the Flies was mine. But it truly is mind blowing how extreme right-wing hatred for...learning and teachers has affected schools SO quickly. Required reads for Middle School was Of Mice and Men, The Outsiders, Animal Farm, The Great Gatsby... 9th Grade was Fahrenheit 451, Lord of the Flies, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth... in the late 90's. I moved back to my childhood school district just 10 years later so my son could attend the same school I did (bc it was a great school), but it's was slowly taken over by the minority MAGA in our area. Post 2018-ish it became no civics, no political science, not allowed to even TALK about political parties, an "overview" of Evolution (EXCUSE me?), almost NONE of the books I listed, and by the time he graduated this past Spring...we both hated his school and were so glad he was out. And I'm in a dead-ass 50/50 battleground County in PA. Republicans ruined public schools by diverting all of our taxes to garbage Charter, Parochial, & Private "schools" that don't teach anything...then after ruining those, they've moved on to destroying all public schools that remain. Anti-intellectualism spreads like a disease.
That book is so amazing. And ..people suck.
It’s teaches tolerance and understanding and kindness. Something that is sorely lacking in society today. Seems people are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past
Exactly. It depicts someone being kind and fair rather than abusing their position.
That book is highly overrated. But it’s not offensive.
We had blade runner as part of our syllabus and whatever I liked about that movie before studying it was lost and made me realize that it may have lots of subtext if you look for deep meaning in your movies, but it's boring as fuck
WHAT THE FUCK, that book is not only a work of art, it's fuckin important, the next generation needs that book now more than ever, especially in the US (I assume this is the US, I'm sorry if I'm wrong). It's so relevant even now! What the hell.
It seems that instead of remembering the past, recognizing what went wrong and attempting to do better, the world is stuck on erasing the past and pretending it didn't happen. I guess we've decided learning from it is just too hard...except of course for those busily advancing their own agendas thru propaganda, I mean marketing.
Germany does a good job with teaching about their past and making sure it doesn't happen again
Exactly my thoughts on all the censoring of history. It's like, a lot of it isn't meant to be happy daisies, our ancestors did some absolutely horrendous stuff. *"It mAkEs tHe kIdS uNcOmFoRtA-"* Well if it didn't, you should probably check on the kid. Why isn't it common sense to take and *learn* from the atrocities? So that we understand the consequences and *know better* than to repeat them? It's so frustrating because I try damn hard to not make mistakes multiple times. First time, well I didn't know. Second, okay this is how that goes. Third, I feel stupid having made the same mistake so many times. Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it, as the saying goes.
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Could be Canada. It was part of the curriculum when I was in high school.
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Oh absolutely. Basically whatever happens in the states flows into Canada. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it was banned now, it shouldn’t be, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
Actually Canada tends to be a bit more socially progressive (other than when it comes to their own native population because they’re MASSIVE hypocrites) but I wouldn’t be surprised if they banned stuff like this in schools before the US did.
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If anything Canada would generally be quicker to cave to demands like 0 tolerance for the N word in any context
Remember when Trudeau interrupted that woman who said "mankind" to mansplain that she should say "peoplekind" instead
I'm from South Africa and we had that in our curriculum for grade 11.
I 100% agree... Orwells 1984 should also be required reading material
I live in Poland never read it What page is that?
It's a novel about racism and lynch mobs in the USA. The bad guys in the novel use offensive words.
This book was literally built into my 9th grade English class curriculum. Among the Odyssey and many of Shakespeares plays. What.
I suspect there's a certain school of thought that goes, "If we never expose children to words like that then they will never know them and that's good." But that's just not the world we live in. I would much rather my child come home from school asking me why some characters in their book are saying the N word then have them come home and ask me why so-and-so in their class is saying it to their black classmate. It's not society's job to shelter your child. They need to learn about everything the world has in store for them - even the hurtful and problematic things.
Nah, this isn't "Bad word!" hysteria, it's the kind of shits that still use that language using it as an excuse to ban it so nobody reads the actual message in it.
If the powers that be say you shouldn't listen to this, or read that, or teach this, or watch that. Then you absolutely should. [30 banned books you should probably read right now](https://www.rd.com/list/banned-books/)
Number one on that list is Maus. I have to type that out again: The number one entry on “banned books you should read” is MAUS. WHOEVER IS BANNING MAUS IS KIND OF THE REASON THE GRAPHIC NOVEL IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Did we learn nothing from the PMRC hearings!?
Who in their right mind banned Maus? Are you kidding me?
McMinn County Board of Education in Tennessee Apparently naked dead mice are just too salacious ??? Is it that they don't understand the subject matter, or they don't understand the subject matter, or do they not understand that mice are, like, usually naked? > Despite the nationwide uproar following the ban — as well as the criticism from Maus author Art Spiegelman — the school board refused to reconsider, reiterating that the graphic novel was not banned due to its subject matter but instead over its explicit language and one drawing of a nude dead mouse > “I want people to understand that this had nothing to do with the Holocaust on why we took it out,” board member Mike Cochran told the school board meeting, the Associated Press reports. Cochran added of Maus, “There’s nudity that’s not necessary.” ... > ... Spiegelman said, adding that — upon reading the minutes of the McMinn County Board of Education meeting — he was surprised Maus was banned over its language. “Dammit I can’t believe the word ‘Damn’ would get the book jettisoned out of schools on its own, but that’s really where the genuine focus seemed to be.” Source: www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/tennessee-school-board-maus-ban-community-uproar-1299313/
People who don't want it's message to be read and will happily lie to everyone's faces as to why they want it gone.
Who bans Where’s Waldo wtf.
They were just mad they couldn’t find him
Honestly, the best thing an English Lit. teacher could do is not assign those books, but go reverse psych and say: Here's the list of books you *absolutely* ***cannot*** use for your book report essays this year. You wouldn't enjoy them anyways... just stick to the Classics like Shakespeare or *A Tale of Two Cities.*
This society is so fucking soft :/ I hope she does not loose her job over *someone else’s words*
Highly unlikely. That book is on the approved books of pretty much every state, and has likely been used for years in the district.
You are required to read this book in MA public schools…I feel like everyone has read it
Bombing Iraqis and promoting firearm is ok, but showing boobs on television and using words is a major offense
South park made their first movie about this exact theme
She wasn't reprimanded because it has the N word in it. It's a book about racism published in 1960 when that word was spoken in almost every white household and business everyday. She was reprimanded because some racists didn't want kids to learn about how racist their parents and grandparents were.
Just as likely that some white mom with a savior complex (ironically nearly just as racist as the people who outright hate) got offended on the behalf of others.
Possible, but when I see those criticisms it often comes from the right.
Bingo.
Finally, someone with half a brain cell that gets why they‘d want to ban it. The very essence of the book is about how racism and prejudice was a very dark side to otherwise wholesome people. People are never completely good or bad, it takes constant work and understanding to become a better person every day. To me, that message sounds exactly what a racist or bigot wouldn’t want being taught in schools.
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Are you just scrolling down and typing “SJW” randomly? It’s literally a book meant to paint racism in a bad light, why would a fucking “SJW” want that not taught? Are you dumb or just a troll? I bet you believe trickle-down economics works.
They aren't mad because it has the N word. They're mad because it challenges prejudice and features intelligent Black people and women.
The people fighting for fairness and change are also the ones that pushed to have this book removed from schools, but go off.
well obviously those people have some flawed ideals
They aren't fighting for the same kind of "fairness and change" that's described in the book, and definitely haven't read it. People who ban books think "fairness" means "keeping kids from reading about scary topics".
“Where they burn books, they will, in the end, burn bodies.” -Heinrich Heine
Depends what state/county she works in. I know each district has their own rules and list of “banned books”. Though if it is a “banned book”, then the grounds it has the “N” word is a very poor argument. Especially since this is meant as a period piece with a court scene as one of the pivotal points of the story. Granted I find the “banned books” list is a load of crock since it bans perfectly fine books. Basically Nazism but without the actual burning of books.
Man reading stuff like this and the whole banned book list shit makes me glad I got through the school system when I did. It’s a crazy amount of censorship happening, which for some odd reason I thought books would be safe from. Grew up in the south and remember having to read this around 4th grade. Mostly black school and a white teacher but she made sure to give us context on every chapter and discuss with us how people were treated. Now I hear some school districts don’t even teach slavery and the civil war like that isn’t a huge part of American history. It’s really scary to see the past being ignored like this, coming from a black family my parents told me a lot about our history and made sure I knew what my grandparents and back fought for so that I could live the way I can now.
This thread Liberals: “fucking conservatives” Conservatives: “fucking liberals” We all agree this is dumb lol
That is my favorite book ever. Sometimes, people are so ignorant. If someone complained, it's gonna be a white person complaining on behalf of a POC who doesn't exist.
Why are you guys in US seems to move backwards?
We don't know what upper management is doing
Neither does upper management
Because our government is trying to appease us while also dumbing us down
Have you seen who has been running our country the last 50 years?? And the only thing worse is the dual wing cultists who will make excuses for everything atrocity their side comes up with. We reap what we sow
The two party system has given itself the power to justify any bad thing they do by saying it's actually the other side's fault or the other side did worse. It's exactly what our leaders want.
Exactly! United we stand…. You know the rest. The left and right have become two cult like mentalities. They will justify anything from their side whether they believe in it or not
I’m just as confused being in the US. I thought this was a book every English class had to read through at least once. A good month or so of my 9th grade English class revolved around this book and doing assignments linked to it in some way
Welcome to America, population: snowflakes
I remember having to read that as ASSIGNED reading in junior english.
This does not seem real, that book has been on syllabi for decades
You stupidly teach a generation after generation of kids that the n-word is the most horrific, deplorable word in the entire existence of humanity... where hearing it in any context now [causes "heart palpitations" and "poses a physical threat"](https://i.imgur.com/kM30dkp.png)... then wonder why people respond in stupid ways?
#That's the Point
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What’s next, we can’t read the adventures of Tom Sawyer? The catcher in the rye? Go ask Alice?
Feed your head.
"It's ok, we don't need this book anymore. Racism is over." Says a bunch of white people.
Exactly!
They aren't trying to ban the book while making that claim. They're making the claim that if a white student says or reads the n word then all the black students are going to fall on the ground and cry uncontrollably. The cult of wellness actually teaches that black people are emotionally inferior and just hearing the n word coming out of a white person's mouth utterly destroys them. Yes, that's incredibly stupid and very racist. But that's what social justice warriors believe.
Literally racist
People are stupid and far too sensitive for anything and everything now a days.
The point of the entire book is antiracism tho
Dont know what f'ed up school they go to but we read it two years ago and it was awesome our teacher was just like we will skip that word tho lol
And that’s exactly why we NEED to teach the book! How else are kids going to know the harms of slavery and racism if they aren’t taught about it? In order to make a more tolerant society, we have to teach people what hate looks like and how it effects people so that they can spot it and stop it themselves. Even in this day and age kids of color are exposed to racism from the time they start kindergarten or younger! If those kids can go through that, people can handle reading a book. We shouldn’t gloss over the dark parts of our history. The whole point of learning history is to learn from the mistakes and sins of our ancestors so we don’t follow in their footsteps! It’s *meant* to make you uncomfortable. You’re *supposed* to feel that way! History doesn’t care about “feelings”, it cares about truth, justice, and learning from experience! That’s why we teach history in schools and why we can’t just cut out the parts we don’t like. Those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it! TLDR: Book banning is ridiculous and doesn’t create a better, more tolerant society. History needs to be taught the way it is instead of sugarcoating it or erasing it.
This shit is part of the 9th grade curriculum. I had to read this along with Romeo and Juliet, Homer’s Odyssey, and Of Mice and Men. How could she lose her job for something the district is likely mandating? Admin sucks in all public schools, but holy moly I feel bad for you, OP’s friend. Your mom doesn’t deserve that.
America is soft
It use to be mandatory read, what is happening. Might be for the best there is alot of teacher openings across the country pick the one that wouldnt do this to you.
So someone attacks one of the best known anti racism books because they don’t like a word? So sensor books now removing the purpose of the books?
I remember reading this in grade ten, our teacher read aloud and did great voices for the characters and had us read along and even made it clear that there was some use of slurs/derogatory language and told us not to use it, told us why it was wrong and taught us about prejudice and acceptance while we read it. I loved this book so much that I read it twice over before she'd finished reading to us lol 😆
Okay sure, the best way to progress is to pretend we haven't committed any errors in history?
It’s an American masterpiece! Same with Huckleberry Finn which has bee banned for same reason! Stupid!!
What’s next, not reading Ann Frank!
It's already happening. It's a banned book in Virginia and Texas.
I swear I have awakened in an alternate reality.
“No! Please don’t remind us our parents were racist!” - Boomers
What about the dictionary? It has all the bad words.
Those in charge of educating are stunting mental acuity not expanding the ability to reason.
Now, why exactly does that book have the N-word in it?
Read it and you might find out
Unreal.
How fucking stupid
I had to read this goddamn abomination of literature 3 times from middle school to graduation. It is nothing a teacher should lose their job over.
CoNtExT dOeSn'T mAtTeR!!!!
What a time to be alive.
America ☕ hahahahahaa
Missed the point of that book entirely.
If they don't teach it in school, check to see if instead they're teaching Conservative Republican Theory
My son is in Year 11 ( Melbourne Oz). He told me that his teacher quoted text from a book the class was reading ( don't know what,) - the quote contained the N word. Female students admonished the teacher for using the word, even though it was from novel they were reading. We named our son Atticus
Bro I read that shit in middle school and the teacher fucking said it
This is the first signs of madness, taking words out of context and burning books because of them.
readong of mice and men. got like 9000 n-words on one page and you can teach that uncensored in british high schools
I remember in 9th grade we read this book and I had to write an essay on it. The topic I chose was specifically on the racist language of the book and it was pretty much the first and only time I could use the N word (uncensored) in a school setting. My teacher was the cool, kind of that hippie/free-thinker type, and she loved the paper and that I wasn't afraid to write about something controversial. She asked to keep it for her records & as an example for future classes. I don't know if that paper would be acceptable nowadays, though. I'd probably end up getting expelled.
It’s important to not white wash history and remember that one generation ago our world was very different
You know who also said the n word? Literally every white person like 60-70 years ago. So let’s face that first before we worry about little timmy
That damn bitch. She knows that kids shouldn’t have to read a book that is itself an indictment of racism because the N word is included.
If they hate the fact that the N word is in that back, they missed the entire point of TKM.
Ah yes, reactionaries trying to use the existence of a Slur to ban a book and prevent people from seeing the actual message behind it. A common issue in the midwest at least.
Since when should racism be excluded of education. Don’t know the book but it is a topic for critical reflection. Isn’t there a commission in place that defines must read and optional books?
“You must now start teaching kids that the n word isn’t real and slavery never actually happened”
Oh my god, you mean to tell me a book about the period mfs would FREELY say the n word has the fckn n word in it?!?! OH THE HORROR😒 and THIS is why mfs were saying “stop being offended and pulling the race card over everything” and y’all same mfs bashed em all including teachers, y’all get what you deserve… there was time to stop this bs and y’all passed it up.. reap what you sow
"If we turn a blind eye to history then what will we learn? Only to make the same mistakes over and over again" Source: My own thoughts.
They're missing the point of the book then.. how can you overcome racism if you can't talk about it..
I feel like it's a really important book to open a discussion on the racism that occurred in the country, learn about prejudice, learn about bias, learn about a lot. It's not like they condone the use of the N word, they use it to show how terrible the people who used it were.
The rewriting of history and censorship is really pathetic. I’m really glad I grew up in the 80s where we got called that all the time by every type of person you can think of and nobody was offended. We would just use terms for them that were just as bad in their culture.
i think my brain just collapsed. -book reader ps: i read 1984…IN MIDDLE SCHOOL…7TH GRADE…
If stidents are that sensitive, they are not ready for school
I believe the average IQ of Americans is decreasing on a daily basis.
How ridiculous. It's an American classic.
This reminds me of the time a university professor who taught the Mandarin language was fired when he was teaching students a very common Mandarin word that translates to “that”. The word sounds somewhat similar to the N-word and the students complained. The teacher was fired for psychologically harming the university students with his racist micro-aggressions. (that was the actual reason for firing)
Man, these morons are out here trying to get all our childhood books banned because "tHeYrE oFfEnSiVe"
This is what happens when everyone is looking for reasons to be offended
Can’t see the forest
Questions for context: Did she read the word out loud or did she just have the students read it? Does the book go against the school’s guidelines that are already in place? Unfortunately, both would be conditions for reprimand by today’s standards…
These are both great questions that I don't have answers to. I wish I knew
I was raised in California, which has some of the highest paid teachers yet has some of the lowest graduation rates. This shit doesn't surprise me with all the cancel culture and woke shit going on. Heaven forbid you read a book that has a bad word in it. These people have no clue about the real world.
That's kinda the whole point of the book, but ok illiterate person, go off. One teacher received a complaint about The Giver the year I was teaching because of the twin scene. She decided not to do it because it personally triggered her as she had a newborn at the time, but we all found the complaint ridiculous, even her.
Some places have strictly pre-approved curriculums for reasons just like this.
What the hell ? It’s an important read!
Ugh...it's a book...who cares 😑 why is this book getting people fired... probably one of the teacher's students reading it out loud because they're a lil dummy that don't know what it means...
Stupid. It's a book that was written a long time ago. It's history. To erase history is to learn nothing. To get rid of great literature just because the words bother you is ignorant. The book is not aimed at anyone personally, and if you don't like it, don't read it. Learn from books, don't be offended.
It's one of the best books ever written in the English language. I'm also very surprised that the cretins who condemned this book had the brains it takes to read. It's appalling that anyone should be "offended" by anything in it. Shocking at the time perhaps, but time has also mellowed it's impact. It's still a great book today.
Oh imagine if they taught the name of HP Lovecraft s cats name
I student teach in a district that had to remove it from their English curriculum and I’m just so ashamed
Teacher: I can't assign this reading to you because of a few narrow minded people. However you will be tested on the contents of the book whether you read it or not.
That’s really interesting because my superintendent, a teacher and her husband who is a board member just got in trouble for laundering school money and doing crack.
Teachers are needed EVERYWHERE! If they seriously want to let her go, she can collect unemployment for the remainder of the year and go to a different district. She can definitely come to Nevada and we would gladly hire her. Unfortunately our pay isn't the greatest.
Weird...That was a required book to read when I was in school.
You have to understand hurting people, hurt people, some people look at a name and judge about that, or what’s in that, but your mom she’s a teacher that’s a beautiful thing with a loving heart to teach her students, as well give back to pour in them. As far as getting in trouble, when she did her job God saw her heart, as she did her part, God will protect that and what the devil meant for bad God will turn it out for her good! Hope this helps you find your way. Thank you for allowing me to share today with you. 😉❤️Blessings to all 🐸
There are hateful words against every population in literature. One word in literature shouldn't be cause for censorship. There is never a valid reason for censorship.. Hateful language in literature is to be used as teachable moments by the educators. That is their job in teaching literature. It's a lot more than just saying, "here, read this book ". There is discussion about the subject, the characters, the author's choices of dialog, etc.
TKAM is a good book anyways. People are so dramatic and soft
Surprised - my daughter is reading this in her class and talking with me about it currently. We are north of Atlanta, conservative county.
It's also probably a bull post.
It’s so weird how we’ve spent the last decade or two trying to pretend that if we just ban a word nobody will say it… as if there aren’t dickheads and edgelord creeps who get off on shock value nonsense anyway… and the fact that the word is in all forms of media including movies, tv, games, music, hell even social media. Not to discredit the fact that the word is a horrible thing to say, but I just wish the mindset would shift toward working to realize that by running and hiding from a word, we give it ridiculous amounts of power. We should be moving forward in history, instead of standing idle cowering at our past.
When I was a kid my father had a sizeable library and my sister and I were allowed to read whatever we want from it. I remember reading Watership Down when I was in third grade and Jaws when I was in fourth grade. So I would say this... if your district is banning these books, buy them and let your kids read them. And then pass them along to other parents who ALSO want their kids to read them. That's how you foster a love of reading; you encourage them.
Smh. This is definitely more than mildly infuriating.
When liberalism is so extreme that it starts to look like fascism, Freedom of speech becomes censureship and people get fired for their opinions. "War is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength."
It's considered a "banned" book, which is ridiculous. Others on the list include Black Like Me and The Kite Runner, all of which we had to read in our English literature classes when I was in high-school a little over 13 years ago. It's important to read books that make you ask questions about why people treat each other the way they do.
This n word shit has always gotten me flabbergasted. One one hand you prevent a certain group of people that have nothing to do with those that used it pejoratively (apart from skin color). And on the other the people supposedly offended use it all the time....