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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Education Should At Times Discomfit Petty Tyrannies Spokane School District 81 Is Wringing Its Institutional Hands.

John Webster For The Editorial

Freedom won’t last unless the next generation of Americans learns how to grapple with life’s hard questions and debate them frankly.

We are losing this ability, and we are losing it in one of the worst possible places: in our public schools and universities.

We are losing it, because educators are losing their nerve.

Discouraged by students who don’t like to read and infected by the petty tyrannies of political correctness, academia is shoving aside the treasure chest where Western civilization stores values, vocabulary and accumulated wisdom: classic literature.

For example, Spokane School District 81 is wringing its institutional hands about whether to keep requiring that students read two time-tested books: “To Kill A Mockingbird” and “Huckleberry Finn.”

Why is it concerned? The authors were white. One was male. The books contain the word, “nigger.” Students find this upsetting. And we must not ask students to exert themselves to the point of reading an intellectually traumatic book, must we?

Well, as a matter of fact, the exertions of controversy and thought are exactly what education ought to demand.

Students who read these two books with care will discover that the books are not guilty of racism. Rather, they lay bare its ugliness. Both tell unforgettable stories about multiracial friendship and the shattering of stereotypes. Two friends, an outcast white boy and a runaway slave, float down the river of life surrounded by the scoundrels of racist pioneer society. A little white southern girl sees her father defend a black man falsely accused of rape and so learns what it means to have character.

Along the way, these books expose readers to writing at its best. You can’t write well if you haven’t read well.

Other classics, too, define the American experience: “Babbitt” blasts boosterism. “The Crucible” scorches religious intolerance. “The Great Gatsby” reveals the bankruptcy of materialism. “1984” mocks governmental tyranny and “Fahrenheit 451” shows the danger book burners pose, whether they come wearing uniforms and boots or tweed sport coats and sneakers. Great books like these cause offense, provoke debate, transmit democratic values, and ought to be required reading for every literate American.

, DataTimes MEMO: For opposing view, see headline: Room for growth on shelf of classics

The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN, EDITORIAL - From both sides CREDIT = John Webster For the editorial board

For opposing view, see headline: Room for growth on shelf of classics

The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN, EDITORIAL - From both sides CREDIT = John Webster For the editorial board