Is it productive to ban literature?

[?Impact]

On 1/5/2017 at 2:19 AM, hernanday said:

4.  What exactly is the value of these racist works of literature as opposed to teaching racism is wrong.  The teachers frequently don't even teach that the racial slurs are wrong, they just give the students the book and expect them to "figure it out".  Further these works are not even ideal teaching tools because we have far better ways than fictional stories of teaching anti-racism.

That is obviously a big problem if it is happening. There are many works of literature that do not stand on their own merit as something to be included in the school curriculum, but with appropriate guidance they can have some benefits.

I agree there are other ways of teaching anti-racism. One of the challenges with youth is engaging them, and sometimes fiction is a helpful aid.

[H10]

2 hours ago, ?Impact said:

That is obviously a big problem if it is happening. There are many works of literature that do not stand on their own merit as something to be included in the school curriculum, but with appropriate guidance they can have some benefits.

I agree there are other ways of teaching anti-racism. One of the challenges with youth is engaging them, and sometimes fiction is a helpful aid.

It is happening, the quality of teachers has slipped substantial, teachers in the past use to look like ms. mom and where the A+ students who loved school.  Now it is full of people with B- and could not get into anything but teacher's college. Alot of these teachers themselves know nothing about racism or are uninterested in the work.  I agree with your comment largely.  The issue is appropriate guidance, it is not there anymore.  In alot of these schools kids have taken the classroom over and there isn't even a real teacher present, you have teacher's sleeping with teen students, and alot of them are female teachers.

Fiction in theory could be an effective aid and in practice, often is.  The problem is of course, these types of works are always open to interpretation.