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Posted by NorthwestEagle Jackson wants Huck Finn pulled from class reading 10/15/02 CLIFTON R. CHESTNUT Portland School Board member Derry Jackson wants "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" pulled from reading lists after an African American student said he was offended by an ethnic slur used in the 1885 novel. The idea, however, had no support among fellow board members, who said the school board should not thrust itself into an issue involving one student. Jackson fired back, saying the board should adhere to its own strategic plan that promotes a culture of respect for all students. "I suggest that we take this matter serious," Jackson said. "Don't be quick to dismiss this as trivial." Board Chairwoman Karla Wenzel asked Scherzinger to pinpoint which schools use the book. Jackson asked for the review of Mark Twain's novel after Lincoln High School junior Johnnie Williams Jr. reported that he was uncomfortable reading the book in his American literature class. Williams, who is African American, said he was offended by the content of the book as a student in a predominantly white school. Of the 1,470 Lincoln students during the 2001-02 school year, 71, or about 5 percent, were African American or black, the latest numbers available from the state. White students made up 82 percent of the population that year, according to the Oregon Department of Education. The school allowed Williams to read an alternative book about baseball legend Jackie Robinson. Williams' mother, Angela Scott, said she was concerned that teachers considered the book an important literary work but disregarded her son's feelings. She wants the school to stop teaching it. Lincoln Principal Peter Hamilton said he doesn't want to start banning books. In a memo to his staff earlier this month, Hamilton pointed out that English teachers have developed supplementary materials to teach the book. Some have taken African American students aside privately to discuss the book and its content, he said. Scott called that proof that the book is offensive. "My question is: If you have to do all that, then why (read) the book?" she said. Monday afternoon, a group of English Lincoln teachers discussed their methods for teaching "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Millie Wingate said sophomores and juniors who read the novel are first assigned a series of essays and other materials dealing with race relations. Students have the opportunity to write persuasive essays about the book's suitability for school, she said. The book has been taught for years at Lincoln, and teachers say it serves as a meaningful tool to discuss a prickly topic: racism. "To not talk about it doesn't make it go away," Wingate said. Huckleberry Finn, the story about a boy and his adventures with a runaway slave, is one of the most challenged books in America. The American Library Association, which compiles lists of books which have been challenged or banned because of sexual, religious or other content, says the book was the fifth-most challenged one in the decade between 1990 and 2000. Lincoln senior Casey Roach read Twain's novel during her American Literature class last year. Each mention of the ethnic slur was changed to "slave" when they read the book aloud, she said. The class also watched videos documenting how other schools had dealt with the controversy surrounding the book, she said. "I'm in love with Mark Twain," she says. "I think a lot of kids these days don't get a chance to read good literature."
on 10/16/2002, 4:54 pm
198.81.26.175
Where does being pc stop?
Jackson on Monday asked Portland Superintendent Jim Scherzinger to find out how widely the book is assigned and whether it should be read in literature classes across the city.
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