*A South Carolina teacher’s AP lesson was shut down after students complained about having to read Ta-Nehisi Coates’ 2015 memoir on racism “Between the World and Me.”
As reported by Business Insider, the English students in teacher Mary Wood’s class at Chapin High School pointed out that material was “illegal” to teach and could violate state laws by discussing systemic racism. According to the lesson plans, students had to watch related videos before reading the book but they complained that the visuals made them “uncomfortable,” according to documents obtained by The State.
The State cited some of the students’ complaints and they read like GOP talking points that ensure white kids never have to learn about the horrors of slavery and systemic racism.
“I actually felt ashamed to be Caucasian,” one student said to the school board, The State reported. “These videos portrayed an inaccurate description of life from past centuries that she is trying to resurface. I don’t feel as though it is right because these videos showed antiquated history. I understand in AP Lang, we are learning to develop an argument and have evidence to support it, yet this topic is too heavy to discuss.”
According to another student, the teacher expressed concern about possibly being fired due to the lesson.
Per journal-isms (citing the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times), “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “vetoed funding for projects that promote aspects of Black history, an action that is consistent with the governor’s yearslong push to restrict how racism and other aspects of history can be taught in schools and workplaces.”
The students’ complaints prompted the school board to remove the book from the lesson plan, The State reports. PEN America, a nonprofit organization that advocates for literary free expression, called the action “an outrageous act of government censorship.
Wood had taught Coates’ memoir the previous academic year without any issue, The State reports.
READ MORE: Ta-Nehisi Coates Gives ‘Grim Reaper’ Mitch McConnell Epic Lesson on Reparations – WATCH
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