I think having it optional rather than mandatory is the best way to go and certainly wouldn't ban it. I don't like how this girl has become a lightning rod for abuse by people who appear to have never read a book in their lives but that's Twitter for you I suppose
On one hand I have white privilege so I have no real idea or understanding what it feels like to be a person of colour or a minority that faces discrimination so I don’t feel I have either the experience or authority to tell people who do face discrimination how they should feel about it even when reading it an 86 year old book. On the other hand I feel we need a yardstick to show how far we come but more importantly to show what we got wrong in the past so we don’t repeat the same mistakes. I guess what I’m trying to say is that there’s more than one way that this book can be used as an educational tool.
I’m not saying anything should be banned. The opposite if anythingShould To Kill A Mockinbird be banned on the same basis?
I’m not saying anything should be banned. The opposite if anything
I’ve read to Kill a Mockingbird several times although not for a while but my memory is that the context of the book is that racism is bad. Have to be honest I’ve never read Of Mice and Men or seen the film so can’t comment on its specific contents or context but also I haven’t said it should be banned.
Depends what you mean by censor though. A warning that on the cover that the book contains outdated views I would think in most cases would be enough. Unless the purpose of the book is specifically to promote white supremacy then maybe further discussions would be required but then again I doubt a book like that would be on the curriculum.I didn’t say you did but if all we do is censor books because of the words rather than the message then it’s a big mistake.
Depends what you mean by censor though. A warning that on the cover that the book contains outdated views I would think in most cases would be enough. Unless the purpose of the book is specifically to promote white supremacy then maybe further discussions would be required but then again I doubt a book like that would be on the curriculum.
That’s fair enough. The key point there I guess is that it isn’t being used to promote Nazi ideology. You have to allow for the context of how it’s being used in education too, not just the context of the literature.Nazi propaganda has been discussed in GCSE History for years. It is obviously designed to promote unacceptable views but in such a case you must trust the teacher to deliver the material appropriately.
That’s fair enough. The key point there I guess is that it isn’t being used to promote Nazi ideology. You have to allow for the context of how it’s being used in education too, not just the context of the literature.
The reaction from the right on this could be interesting. I recall there being a call from individuals on right not that long ago to drop all literature from non British authors of the curriculum. A different type of censorship.
Think it got re floated not that long ago. Fits in well with though with your point about using Nazi literature in the classroom as a teaching aid. Banning foreign literature is straight out of the Nazi playbook.That was Michael Gove’s idea 10 years ago
It's a great book, mind.Am I missing something, no one is calling for the book to be outright banned right? So anyone could go online, to the library, or a book store, and pick up the book to read in their own time if they wanted to?
In which case, seems like a total non issue whether it's in the curriculum or not. Millions of other books are not in the school curriculum, and no one complains about them. I'm sure there are lots of other texts that can be used to teach racism throughout history, where necessary.
It's a great book, mind.
I was blown away by it.
Some of the time in our school it felt like it was practice at reading aloud!!I feel like the basis of ‘teaching’ the book is not to glorify it but to introduce critical thinking. That’s what I recall from school anyway. If you just looked at books without any controversy at all then what are you learning?
It's not on the reading list in England (wonder why?) so why should it be on the reading list in Northern Ireland? (and Wales).
Are they saying the feelings of a racial minority in Ireland (or Wales) don't matter but those in England do?
Michael Gove took ‘non-British’ texts off the lists in England when he was Education Secretary
Will you please ban Sylvia Plath too. Fuck me that was depressing.If I'm ever education secretary I'd ban Thomas Hardy for being overwrought over sentimentalised shit.
Depends what you mean by censor though. A warning that on the cover that the book contains outdated views I would think in most cases would be enough. Unless the purpose of the book is specifically to promote white supremacy then maybe further discussions would be required but then again I doubt a book like that would be on the curriculum.
Tv has changed, language has changed, music has changed, culture has changed, law has changed, life has changed. What was acceptable a generation ago isnt today. Why should books be different? Calling them classics doesn't mean they escape scrutiny and if they're in any way offensive they should be banned or amended like anything else. Would kids be allowed to watch OFaH because it's a classic?
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