Surrey schools pull books over racism concerns

To Kill A Mockingbird and other classics flagged in content review

Surrey public school educators have pulled four classic books from the recommended reading curriculum over concerns about racist content.

The Surrey school district quietly decided to remove Harper Lee's 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill A Mockingbird, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, John Ball's In the Heat of the Night, and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck from the list of books recommended for students Grade 10 and older. But the decision has left some questioning the rationale.

Ritinder Matthew, a spokesperson for the school district, said they are not banning the books from classrooms or libraries, but they are no longer including them as part of the curriculum.

“We did a comprehensive review of these resources that determined that the merits of these novels do not outweigh the potential trauma and harm they may cause to some students,” she said.

Under the school's policy, any teacher who wants to continue using the books will have to seek approval.

The decision was not publicly announced. Matthew said the decision was made in November by a panel of 12 teachers.

If a teacher wants to use one of these books, they can submit a request for a resource to be evaluated and the director of instruction will approve or deny requests. Kathy Puharich, the district's director of instruction, did not return calls.

It won't be easy for the teachers to order the books, though. A screen grab shared with Postmedia of the website teachers use to order books shows they are no longer available to order.

Matthew said books are ordered through the district's learning resource catalogue that highlights recommended resources. If they are not on the list, then a teacher must consult with the principal to purchase the books.

“If an educator determines that a resource is necessary, our policy delineates specific steps to be followed. These include ensuring that sensitive language is not spoken aloud, and providing context about historical and social issues,” said Matthew.

While anti-racist in message, To Kill A Mockingbird is a book about race written by a white person with a white protagonist.

It follows a young girl's awakening to the racial inequality in her small Alabama town as her lawyer father defends a Black man falsely accused of rape. Critics say books by non-Black authors that contain racist slurs are no longer appropriate, while others argue it's a modern classic that is still relevant as a way to discuss racial issues with older high school students. It's No. 2 on the Vancouver Public Library's list of Best 100 Books for B.C. Students. Of Mice and Men and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part time Indian are also on that list. Both To Kill A Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men are a common standard in B.C. high school reading requirements.

In 2022, a school district in Seattle voted unanimously to remove To Kill A Mockingbird as required reading for Grade 9 students while still allowing teachers to choose whether to teach the classic novel, first published in 1960, according to the Seattle Times.

Two years before that a school district in Burbank, Calif., also directed teachers to stop using To Kill A Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men and three other books as teaching material in classrooms, according to the Los Angeles Times.

A school district in Nova Scotia moved to ban To Kill A Mockingbird along with In the Heat of the Night over objections to the depictions of Black people, however the school board rejected the request.

Asked about the decision, a spokesperson for B.C.'s Ministry of Education said the ministry does not mandate specific books, and that decisions are made at the local school level by educators.

Matthew said alternative books they are recommending for teachers include Beloved by Toni Morrison (Grade 12), The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Grade 10), Brother by David Chariandy (Grades 10 to 12), Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (Grades 11 and 12), and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.

They are also recommending several books by Black authors, including Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi and Hush by Jacqueline Woodson.