Sigh…
When Shorewood High School chose “To Kill a Mockingbird” as this year’s annual fall play, it seemed a relevant commentary on the times.
Based on the Harper Lee classic about a white southern lawyer defending an innocent black man in the 1930s, it is a story about segregation and racism, a broken criminal justice system and the sacrifices of those who would stand up for what is right.
But Lee’s book, which has been banned by many schools across the country, remains as controversial today as it did when she wrote it. On Thursday, just hours before the curtain was to go up, Shorewood canceled the production in response to a planned protest over the use of the ‘N’ word in some scenes.
News of a protest had circulated on social media early in the day. And by mid-afternoon, Superintendent Bryan Davis pulled the plug, saying the district should have done a better job engaging the community “about the sensitivity of this performance.”
“We’ve concluded that the safest option is to cancel the play,” Davis said in a statement.
If Davis believes his job is to seek safety by embracing ignorance, then maybe he ought to find a new line of work less challenging than public education. Perhaps he’d be more comfortable wiping noses and asses in a daycare facility.
Reason #11356 liberals should never be in charge of schools.
In other forums it has been noted that TKAM will need to be dispatched with because Atticus Finch defends someone who has been falsely accused of sexual assault – he did not accept the word of the victim as absolute truth that she was assaulted.