Teaching Moment

It's difficult to argue that the "N-word" has any redeeming value. Its roots lie in bigotry and racism and has often been used as a demeaning epithet. Some rap music performers have attempted to co-opt the term and make it "empowering" for African-Americans, but that has merely created a double standard on usage that has divided the black community and left many whites bewildered.

It's a word that's best considered radioactive in public discourse.

Nevertheless, its presence throughout history cannot be ignored. The "N-word" appears in some of the finest literature of the last 200 years, sometimes as a product of a less-enlightened age, at other times as a statement on racism and ignorance. Should the presence of something so offensive to modern sensibilities be allowed to obscure the greater value of a work of art?

It's a classic forest-for-the-trees dilemma that has bedeviled public schools for decades, most recently in Chipley, Fla.

The Washington County School District has received a complaint from a parent about the 1938 novel "The Yearling" being used in Chipley High School's 10th-grade honors English class. The story of a Florida boy who adopts an orphaned fawn won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for literature. The "N-word" appears in it a handful of times, reflecting the speech mannerisms of the setting and era.

"The Yearling" has been removed from the curriculum while a special committee of educators and parents spends two weeks reading and discussing it before recommending a course of action.

That could involve banning the book, omitting offensive passages or reinstating the full book.

We hope the committee restores "The Yearling" without restrictions, with the understanding that teachers should seize the opportunity to discuss why the book would contain such a hurtful word and its historical context (although any literature teacher worth his salt would already be doing that).

In this situation, it appears to be only one parent complaining. In Washington County, as in most school districts, parents who object to a reading assignment can request a substitute book. There's no reason to deny the entire class the opportunity to read "The Yearling" because of a single dissenter whose child will not be forced to participate.

But even if there were more objections, there's a larger principle to uphold. Readers should be offended by the presence of the "N-word." However, that's not a valid reason to shelter them from the vessels that carry it.

"The Birth of a Nation" is an important film because of its groundbreaking technical achievements. It also happens to glorify the Ku Klux Klan and portray blacks in stereotypically racist fashion. The film's message should be confronted and criticized while its camerawork and editing are studied and praised for their contributions to modern cinema.

Students similarly should be asked to separate the various literary and thematic elements of "The Yearling" and discuss them. Embracing what earned the book a Pulitzer and its status as a classic in no way endorses all the language the author employs.

Washington County, like all schools, should view this not as an opportunity to obstruct, but to enlighten — to actually educate.

REPRINTED FROM THE PANAMA CITY NEWS HERALD.

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