Choice of school drama raises issue
It might be curtains for Wando's 'Mockingbird'
Friday, February 09, 2007
BY DIETTE COURRÉGÉ
Mount Pleasant - Wando High School drama students know curtains will rise on their spring production, but they wonder whether they'll be performing a play they're passionate about, "To Kill a Mockingbird," or one that's more palatable to their school's leadership.
School officials fear "To Kill a Mockingbird" might be offensive to some because the play contains racially derogatory language about black people.
It doesn't matter that the novel won a Pulitzer prize. It doesn't matter that Gregory Peck gave such a powerful and Oscar-winning performance in the movie, not to mention that of Brock Peters as Tom Robinson, the accused rapist. James Taranto in BotWT formulates the prime question:
"To Kill a Mockingbird" depicts racism in order to deplore it. Are 21st-century high school students really too delicate to handle exposure to what racism was like?
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