Saturday, February 10, 2007

I love stories like this, LXXXVIII

A tip of the hat to Best of the Web Today (BotWT) for this story which begins.
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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