Shorewood Cancels 'To Kill A Mockingbird' Over Racial Concerns

SHOREWOOD, WI -- Citing concerns over possible protests of Shorewood High School's production of "To Kill A Mockingbird," school officials canceled the play just hours before the curtain rose on opening night.

The Shorewood School District superintendent Bryan Davis issued the following statement:

The Shorewood Drama production of To Kill a Mockingbird has been cancelled for all three nights of production (October 11, 12, and 13). Due to concerns regarding potential protests related to the production, we’ve concluded that the safest option is to cancel the play. The District should have done more outreach to engage in dialogue about the sensitivity of this performance with the Shorewood and greater Milwaukee community. Moving forward, the District will continue to encourage staff and students to engage in meaningful performances surrounding contemporary issues with the appropriate amount of outreach and dialogue.

According to reports, officials learned that a number of students and possibly community members were planning to protest the play because it contains instances of a racially-charged term that is commonly considered offensive.

"The Caucasian students that are in the play, I can't imagine the discomfort of using that word," said one mother who wished to remain anonymous in a WISN 12 report. "I've heard that during practices, [Caucasian students] actually apologized to the African American students. Why even put them in that position?"

The play is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee. The book was published in 1960, and the story is set in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama during the great depression.

In a WTMJ report, some students say the use of the racial language is central to the play, which tells the story of a Caucasian man who represents a African-American man who has been accused of a crime.

"Us doing the word without the show without the word, we felt like we couldn't really tell the story," said one cast member in the WTMJ report.

Another student in the report said she was not offended: "And when using that word we were really trying to be considerate and telling them this is not something to hurt you. I'm in the show, I'm black and I'm not getting offended but I guess that still wasn't clear."

File Photo