Duluth Schools Drop 2 'Hurtful' Classic Books From Curriculum

DULUTH, MN — Students and teachers in northern Minnesota can say goodbye to Huck Finn and Atticus Finch. "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" are no longer required reading for students in the Duluth school district.

District officials removed the books — both of which contain racial slurs — from the curriculum in an effort to be sensitive to all students.

Prior to the decision, Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" was read by Duluth students in the ninth grade while Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" was read in 11th grade. Both books are still be available to students for optional reading.

"The feedback that we’ve received is that it makes many students feel uncomfortable," Michael Cary, the district's director of curriculum and instruction, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "Conversations about race are an important topic, and we want to make sure we address those conversations in a way that works well for all of our students."

The Duluth chapter of the NAACP praised the decision and said the books provoke hate speech and "confound the painful history of racism in the United States."

"We formally request that there be training to help teachers navigate these concepts; and that culturally relevant authors replace the removed literature," the group added.

Stephan Witherspoon, president of the the Duluth chapter, told the Duluth News Tribune the books were "just hurtful" and use "hurtful language that has oppressed the people for over 200 years."

The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) denounced the decision and in a statement said it was "deeply disturbed" by the move:

While it is understandable that a novel that repeatedly uses a highly offensive racial slur would generate discomfort among some parents and students, the problems of living in a society where racial tensions persist will not be resolved by banishing literary classics from the classroom.

NCAC urged the school district to reconsider its decision to remove the books and to include teachers in the review of next year’s curriculum.

Photo by Laura Cavanaugh/Getty Images