Educators and Agitators Fight the Foibles of Classic Literature, Push for a Pulling of the Problematic

Well, you knew it was coming.

Cancel culture has always had one trajectory: It’s been headed toward…canceling culture.

Destination reached.

A group of teachers is currently working to — in the words of The Wall Street Journal — “deny children access to literature.”

That would be, the kind of reads at odds with the presently-promoted morality.

As we chop away at messaging, lessons become simpler. Eventually gone, it seems, will be complex stories with a speckling of the good and bad.

Better, it appears, is the singular presentation of that which is wholly and only right.

Hence, the rise of #DisruptTexts.

Per the Journal, the hashtag represents “critical-theory ideologues, schoolteachers and Twitter agitators” who are “purging and propagandizing against classic texts…”

Reportedly, the premise is that kids should only have to read stories in the modern vernacular.

Furthermore, according to young-adult novelist Padma Venkatraman in the School Library Journal, in deep need of 86’ing is any material “in which racism, sexism, ableism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of hate are the norm.”

Here’s more from DisruptTexts.org:

Disrupt Texts is a crowdsourced, grass roots effort by teachers for teachers to challenge the traditional canon in order to create a more inclusive, representative, and equitable language arts curriculum that our students deserve. It is part of our mission to aid and develop teachers committed to anti-racist/anti-bias teaching pedagogy and practices.

Back to Padma, she was direct — that William guy? Buh-bye:

“Absolving Shakespeare of responsibility by mentioning that he lived at a time when hate-ridden sentiments prevailed, risks sending a subliminal message that academic excellence outweighs hateful rhetoric.”

Another rider in the revolution: Evin Shinn.

In 2018, he made things clear — the Seattle English teacher would rather die:

“I don’t mind saying it: I’d rather die than teach Scarlet Letter. Unless you are teaching about how to fight against misogyny and slut-slaming. Easy A is a good movie, though. Plus, Hawthorne wrote dope short stories. Black Veil, Birthmark?! Do better. #DisruptTexts”

I don’t mind saying it: I’d rather die than teach Scarlet Letter. Unless you are teaching about how to fight against misogyny and slut-slaming. Easy A is a good movie though. Plus, Hawthorne wrote dope short stories. Black Veil, Birthmark?! Do better. #disruptexts #ProjectLITchat

— Evin Shinn (@baritoneblogger) June 23, 2018

Of course, not everyone’s on board:

Oh, and that Shakespeare guy. We shall spare none in the service of our narratives!

The funny thing is, the people making this argument probably appear somewhere in Shakespeare's works.

— CLA (@ConservativeLA) December 27, 2020

Another critic of the classics: self-described “antiracist teacher” Lorena Germán.

“Think of US society [more than 70 years ago] & the values that shaped this nation afterwards,” she said. “That is what is in those books.”

Lorena’s got a fan:

Thank you!

“Think of US society before then & the values that shaped this nation afterwards. THAT is what is in those books.”

Is this not true? Even the important books are problematic.

— Chanea (Sha-Nay) Bond (@heymrsbond) December 29, 2020

As noted by The Daily Wire, one book in the sights of some who want a content sweep is Homer’s broomably brash Odyssey.

Another author reportedly at odds with #Disrupttext: F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Yet another: that dastardly Dr. Seuss.

As relayed by the WSJ, #DisruptTexts is “getting results.”

In Lawrence, Massachusetts, Homer was banned.

Here’s another nugget from the Wire:

[N]ewsweek [observes] the anti-racist classic, To Kill a Mockingbird found itself on the wrong side of censors this year, as did another young adult book that deals with racism, Mildred Taylor’s Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

The problem with To Kill a Mockingbird? School administrators explained the character of attorney Atticus Finch was a “white savior.”

Stay tuned for more whiting-out and blackballing, as we turn toward a tuned-up monochrome tomorrow.

The future’s so bright, we’ve gotta where shades.

Blinders, actually — the kind horses wear.