Welcome to progress with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board banning the 1954 William Goulding novel Lord of the Flies from all its schools after a whinging complaint from one 17 year old student who also views Shakespeare as “outdated and irrelevant.” All hail modernity! All hail progress! The student, Ms Kyla Gibson, wrote:
The OCDSB needs to seriously update the English curriculum. I, as a 17-year-old Black, Jewish, feminist, and social justice activist do not need to learn about how men in the 16th century fought over poor young women, who would eventually sacrifice themselves for their husbands… who had three other underaged wives. Although I agree that students need to learn about important poets and authors such as Shakespeare, this does not mean that the entire English curriculum should be focused on such outdated and irrelevant material in this day and age.
Students need to understand how to pull information from Shakespeare, Orwell, Dahl, Golding, and other authors; however, we shouldn’t be memorizing passages of information that we truly can not relate to our modern-day lives. Additionally, without being able to make real-life comparisons, this information does not stick with us… so are we really learning anything? OCDSB should make each English course focus on authors, playwrights and poets of marginalized groups, in addition to the classics. Not only will it allow for the English program to be more inclusive, but it will also allow Black, Asian, Middle Eastern and Indigenous students to feel represented.
I, as a Black student, feel overwhelmingly unrepresented in the English program. I need my ancestors, my culture and my Black excellence to be represented in the OCDSB English program. I need to be able to relate what I learn in my English class to current societal factors because this is how I learn. Having one Indigenous Literature class is not enough. This class is full of an outstanding amount of useful information that I will continue to use throughout my lifetime. Throughout grade 11, I was able to acknowledge and understand the severity of trauma that Indigenous peoples face every day. Furthermore, I was able to apply the information that I learnt from these Indigenous playwrights, poets and authors to my current life, and this is exactly why it was my favourite course in high school.
The OCDSB has no right to claim that the education system is inclusive when I spend my time learning about white and male supremacy. I do not need to learn about Lord of the Flies and how these boys cannot act in a civilized manner to protect one another without desiring power, hierarchy and having a thirst for blood.
I need to learn about why it is important to protect one another and to be allies to those who are less privileged. I do not need to listen to my white teachers use the N-word while reading To Kill a Mockingbird, saying that it is “okay” because they are the teacher. These are the reasons we need to speak out; I am tired of resisting change to the English program because of “tradition” or “historical value.” I am tired of the lack of representation… I am tired of the racism.
Ends.
I sense that there are a lot of books that the Ottawa school board needs to start burning now as it orders stacks of not very good books by authors you have never heard of but which allow all students to relate to marginalized communities in the modern world. Quick, light the pyre now, there is no time to lose.
Hat tip: The Ottawan