Canada is too politically correct…
Posted by: KarenMKA on: October 7, 2009
…or is it just that the offended minority have too loud of a voice, and hence too much sway?
The Toronto District School Board has been asked to ban one of the 20th century’s greatest novels, To Kill a Mockingbird. This follows quite closely to the incident in Brampton earlier this year, when the novel was taken off course reading lists.
Look. Just because racial epithets are used in a book, it doesn’t mean that the book itself is implicitly racist. Just because people pick up on behavioural patterns they see in a culture, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to go and commit a hate crime. Do we not pride ourselves with being observant, of making connections, of finding meaning in patterns?
I am convinced that we are born to judge, but we are also born with the intellectual capacity to reshape our judgments based on logic, personal experience, and pure observation. And when cultural patterns are recognized in kind, there is nothing wrong with pointing them out.
Insert comic relief: watch this video! It’s a clip of a musical number from Avenue Q. It’s called Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist.
I love it =)
As a Canadian whose ethnic lineage comes from Hong Kong, I have no problem cracking Asian jokes all the time. Stuff like, “I’m Chinese, I eat everything” when people wrinkle their nose at my bowl of tripe and rice noodles. Or when my mother has back-aches on her chair at work, and she puts a little Hello Kitty pillow there instead of buying those patented high-tech chair things, and I call her “Asian ghetto”. Or a blog called My Dad is a FOB that collects images like this that can only be appreciated by those who understand at least some of the cultural stereotypes of Asia.
The key is, though, that it’s all done in KIND. There is nothing wrong with noting the cultural differences and perhaps laughing about it every once in a while if you find it amusing. What makes it wrong is when the intent becomes vicious, negative, hateful. When it is no longer carefree and lighthearted, then we have a problem.
Canada has become so politically correct that we have parents trying to ban books like To Kill a Mockingbird. I know that Moby Dick is banned now due to its racial language, even though the ultimate message in the book is of friendship and loyalty beyond race. How does this differ from censorship? How in the world is this any different from censorship? In a free, democratic nation, shouldn’t every idea have the opportunity to surface, to muck around, to be discussed? Shouldn’t seemingly offensive ideas be used as teachable moments, rather than something to fear?
We need to stop being so patronizing. We need to believe that our kids will grow up to be dignified individuals, that they will know how to judge for themselves. Being so politically correct does not help the build character. It snuffs it out. And so, really.. we need to stop babying our kids. They’re tougher and smarter than we give them credit for.
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7 Responses to "Canada is too politically correct…"
October 7, 2009 at 10:00 pm
i didn’t even know moby dick was banned. but this whole thing stinks. are people that stupid? do they honestly not think kids are being exposed to words (and that’s all they are until hateful actions follow by the way) of that nature outside of school? couldn’t it even be seen as better for kids to be exposed to language like this IN school, IN an academic environment where fiction is meant to be used to prove a point? the entire point of to kill a mocking bird is that racism is inevitable and evil!
ugh.
October 8, 2009 at 10:25 am
Hmm… when I first read this entry I was red in the face and all up in arms ready to bash on Canada’s overly sensitive approach to education regarding racial issues. However, after talking it out with a couple people and doing a little bit more research I’m going to have to disagree.
While the complaint of a parent did begin this whole kerfuffle, there has lately been a lot of focus on whether the book is an accurate representation of the start of the civil rights movement, and whether its particularly relevant to students at this point in time.
First of all, To Kill a Mockingbird is not necessarily the best way to teach kids about the civil rights movement. It was written by a white guy, about a white guy and his white kids, and his white guilt. When addressing a book like this, especially in schools with a significant number of black students. I stand by my belief that if you have the choice between making a dominant culture learn about a minority and vice versa, it should always be the former. Minorities know enough about white people and their white people problems from ABC Friday.
There has also been a fair bit of discussion regarding what will replace To Kill a Mockingbird, and frankly some of the books are pretty sound choices. Books that portray the battles faced in the civil right movement, books that don’t paint the North American black citizens as disorganized, timid, scared and confused.
So overall, I think this particular situation is not so black and white (pun most definitely intended), and we should not be so quick to cry censorship and get all up in arms about it.
October 8, 2009 at 6:32 pm
To Kill A Mockingbird is a classic for a reason. It is effective and an accurate portrayal of attitudes of the time and an important part of history which is plainly still very relevant to people of today when one sees how different races (especially blacks and whites) intermingle. Minorities and majorities do not have as much to do with this whole issue as the presentation of cultural clashes that occurred at the time, which ought to be remembered and learned from. It is not simply the fact that this can be seen as censorship or whitey-is-tired-of-hearing-about-evil-whitey stories being played out, but the catharsis of culture that is at stake here. I’ve never viewed the book as “an accurate representation of the start of the civil rights movement,” but more of a story-based impetus. The point is that the book is a timepiece which was awarded a Pulitzer and continues to be read by all races to this day for a reason.
And whether the book paints black citizens as disorganized, timid, scared and confused feels to be moot, as one of the central points of the book is to decry these conditions which whites have unfairly imposed on blacks in the past. If people simply do not like the black image to be displayed this way, I feel as though that’s taking up a sort of myopic, selective way of viewing history. It happened, and chopping a book off the reading lists which blatantly shows that for “uncomfortable reasons,” just seems wrong.
Also, Harper Lee was a woman.
October 8, 2009 at 7:02 pm
I feel I should clarify myself, I love To Kill a Mockingbird and in no way did I mean to suggest that any acclaim it has been granted was disproportionate or undeserved. It is a fantastic piece of literature that should be said. Furthermore, Harper Lee being a woman: new to me, completely my bad.
With that said, I’m going to have to completely agree with you that the events that led to this decision mark the sad state of Canadian society, however, I still feel that despite the circumstances there is some merit to this decision. Perhaps I’m giving too much credit to the decision-makers but I’d like to think that there was at least some amount of deliberation behind cutting this book from the reading list. I might be wrong, it’s very possible that everyone on the school board just tucked their tales between their legs at a single parent crying racism.
In regards to TKaM as an accurate representation of the period, I agree with you it was never meant to be read as such. However, I feel that there is a lot to be gained from substituting TKaM for a book that does.
That’s all I got, and once again I can’t believe I totally missed that Harper Lee woman thing for over a decade. Uncanny.
October 8, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Those are great points there, Jon. It’s true: To Kill a Mockingbird is written by a white man, obviously with a white man’s perspective, and it does not do the most justice to the black man’s strength and spirit. I haven’t gotten a chance to look through the books considered to replace it just yet; I’ll take your word that they’re all fine books that do the Civil Rights movement justice too.
As a teacher though, my head is still spinning at the many different ways that To Kill a Mockingbird can be used in the classroom to ignite discussion. For example, one of our curriculum expectations is that students recognize “voice” and “point of view” in literature; so, what better way to compare and contrast different perspectives than to use To Kill a Mockingbird as an example of bias?
That’s just one instance. And though I agree that using a book that only expresses the white man’s perspective is not the most optimal way to present the Civil Rights movement, I still strongly disagree with banning the book from classrooms and libraries entirely. As Miles said, what better way to present these ideas, what better place to encourage discussion, than in an academic setting with a passionate teacher to guide classroom conversations?
Books simply should not be banned. Ever. And that’s what I’m disagreeing with here. Replacing with better material, yes. But banning altogether, no. We promote free thought; this principle should be evident in every choice we make, even if we read things we don’t agree with. Allow the material to spur discussion. But never, ever avoid the biased perspective, otherwise there will be teachable moments that could be missed.
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October 7, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Wow, I can’t believe that. The irony is that the whole premise of the book is that it was racism that caused Tom to be put on trial and that racism is wrong. He was scapegoat because the father didn’t want to admit that the daughter had purient interests that he was repulsed by. And if ever there was a non-racist character in literature, that character’s name would be Atticus Finch.
I don’t know what the world is coming too when skinheads get their own parade and real, meaningful literature is banned. It boggles the mind.
Writer Chick
October 7, 2009 at 11:40 pm
It’s true. It really is a shame that a book like this is being challenged. I wonder what it is exactly that is offending people. Is it really, truly, the language? Do parents wish to shelter their children so much that they’ll look to ridding our libraries of rich literature like this? The absurdity is staggering.
As a teacher myself, I would be the first to throw challenging topics to my students. I’ve even done it with my grade 4 students, and you know what? They aren’t afraid to engage. They want to know; they want to be the change. I only wish their parents would let them do so.