To Kill a Mockingbird Book Read Aloud

N-Discussion No More: Racial Epithet Should Not Exist Read Aloud in English Classrooms

Wildcat Staff Author Gaby Smith argues that the offensive racial epithet should be muted during in-grade readings of literature.

Rachel Lim

An English language instructor omits a racial epithet while reading aloud from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, ane of the core works in BOHS's Literature and Composition I classes.

While reading Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird aloud in my ninth grade Honors Literature and Limerick class, students who were captivated by the riveting stories of the Finch family, the mysterious Boo Radley, and the trial of Tom Robinson, of a sudden went silent.

Atticus Finch, a lawyer, is called a "nigger-lover" by Cecil Jacobs for defending the Blackness field hand, Tom Robinson. When the racial epithet was read by my teacher (who read passages of the lengthy novel aloud to break the monotony of silent reading), the atmosphere in the room grew noticeably uncomfortable and students looked to their peers, uncertain how to react afterward hearing the most taboo word in the English language.

It was at that moment when I questioned if racial epithets—fifty-fifty when used in literature—should be read out loud in classrooms.

Frankly, the give-and-take should not be read aloud in class—fifty-fifty when reading from assigned literature—as it dehumanizes Black people and reinforces negative stereotypes. Simply simply skipping over the word while reading aloud in form is non enough—there should also be more than instruction in BOHS'due south English language classes about the impact of this slur, both in literature and in guild.

In merely the freshman and sophomore years of English classes at BOHS, students volition encounter the slur 65 times, once in William Golding's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies ; xvi times in John Steinbeck'due south 1937 novella Of Mice and Men ; and 48 times in Lee'south 1960 novel.

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epithet: a disparaging or abusive word or phrase"

Simply despite the word'south prevalence in 3 of the English section's core works, and despite BOHS's increasingly diverse demographics (68.3% of our student trunk identifies with a race or ethnic grouping other than white), students will never accept an open discussion, nor learn anything of value about the discussion's significance, from their teachers.

"Nigger" is derived from the Spanish word "negro," which means "black." This discussion gradually became omnipresent in American social club during the menstruation of Black American slavery and the era of Jim Crow Laws . The "nuclear bomb of racial epithets" stems from a deep-seated bigotry that has plagued (and still plagues) America, and is all the same used today in a colloquial manner in hip-hop, social media, TV, films, and literature.

There is harm in encountering the term. The epithet can exist triggering for many Black people, and can increase stress levels, lower self-esteem, lead to embarrassment, cause racial trauma , and potentially even provoke a fierce response . Further, in a 2018 study conducted past the International Periodical of Society, Culture, and Language, 56% of survey participants (88% of whom are Black) believed that the n-word was completely unacceptable for anyone to use in whatsoever social setting, 76% "agreed that it is never acceptable for non-Blacks to use the N-give-and-take with anyone in whatever situation."

In my English classes, racial slurs in the texts we read are never addressed in lectures or discussion. Instead, my teachers seem to treat the offensive term as archaic and no longer relevant. But at that place needs to be more educational activity and give-and-take in classrooms about the slurs we encounter. For example, instead of hurrying uncomfortably past problematic passages, a discussion should happen nearly why the northward-word is and so damaging to characters similar Of Mice and Men'south Crooks, who is described as a "nigger [with] a crooked dorsum," and so problematic to students of color.

Shulin Raja, inferior, and gorging reader of American literature, concurs. "I don't remember that slurs should be relegated and locked into some aura of mystery that leads people to not accept a full understanding of what they mean and how certain slurs came to exist," Raja said. "Teaching children when they're immature the origins of certain words and what they can mean to people is something that we can do good from. Information technology creates people who are more aware of how what they say can touch others."

While some might argue that preserving the integrity of a work of literature is essential, repeating slurs that were said by characters—like Bob Ewell describing Tom Robinson as a "black nigger"—do not take away the brilliance of the stories. Skipping over slurs, rather, acknowledges the slurs' presence and power more than actually reading the word aloud. The author's purpose in using the give-and-take is given more than weight when avoided considering it shows that the word is so derogatory that information technology shouldn't fifty-fifty exist uttered in grade. Muting John Steinbeck's description of Crooks as a "busted-back nigger," for instance, allows readers to improve empathise how vile the word is if it doesn't even take a place in the classroom.

Kaylee Neidiger, junior, agrees and believes that To Kill a Mockingbird and Harper Lee'due south storytelling is not marred if students do not read the numerous slurs aloud.

"The severity of the discussion creates an impact in the writing, and it's okay to acknowledge why information technology's nowadays in the text, but out of respect for the word's tragic history information technology'south best to ignore the give-and-take. The entirety of Tom Robinson's case was based around a White woman who falsely accused him of rape. You tin can hands understand [Lee's] point and the severity of the situation without [saying] the full north-word," Neidiger said.

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racial slur: a derogatory or insulting term applied to a particular grouping of people"

Although these slurs should not exist read aloud, books that comprise these slurs should still be read in schools. These of import books tackle themes like racism and prejudice and offer windows into different eras— To Kill a Mockingbird is ready in racism-plagued Alabama in the 1930s; Of Mice and Men is set in California in the 1930s; and Lord of the Flies is assail a tropical isle during war-plagued 1950s.

In order to sympathise why Tom Robinson's trial is unjust; why Crooks is being tormented by the Soledad Ranch field easily; and why Piggy would enquire, "'Which is betters—to be a pack of painted niggers like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is?'" in Lord of the Flies, nosotros have to read these sometimes unsettling stories, merely nosotros as well must discuss them.

With more than books being taken out of school curriculums for having language deemed "insensitive"—like To Kill a Mockingbird existence banned in the Burbank Unified School District —the way we arroyo mature literature volition exist in discussion. These books challenge people'southward morals and start different—and sometimes eye-opening—discussions.

Verronica Clements, English teacher, considers books that incorporate racial epithets meaning as they human action as a window into the by that likewise reveal a lot about the nowadays.

"We need to go on to have discussions virtually how far we've come in relation to race, and reflect on what nosotros can do to create a better society today. I recall it'south important to know how far we've come and what things were like, because I recollect to not go dorsum and look at what what really happened wouldn't do [the book] justice," Clements said.

For the adjacent class of freshmen, students reading To Kill a Mockingbird will hopefully sympathise—through omitting the due north-word—the harm of Tom Robinson being called a "black nigger" past Maycomb's racist residents, while also understanding how the use of the discussion affects Black people today. By understanding the word'due south significance—from teachers providing historical context, mostly—students will gain a perspective that my course, and others, did non get.

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Source: https://breaolindawildcat.com/4092/opinion/n-word-no-more-racial-epithet-should-not-be-read-aloud-in-english-classrooms/