N-word book pulled off school's shelf

A parent's complaint about a racially offensive term in The Land, a children's book, has triggered its removal from the library at Turner Elementary.

An 11-year-old student ran across the N-word when reading the book by award-winning author Mildred Taylor, who is black. Her parents wanted the book pulled from the shelf. A committee of administrators, teachers and parents at the northeastern Hillsborough school has agreed.

"The subject matter of The Land is above the maturity level of elementary students at Turner," the group found. "Several factors influenced this decision including sexual overtones, brutality/violence, and racial slurs."

The decision affects only Turner Elementary. The parent who complained, Darryl Brown, raised concerns about a second book, The Starplace, what used the N-word and was on the school's accelerated reading list. But he never formally challenged that title.

Comments

[TC]

Whatever...go ahead and TRY to protect your children from things they will hear all the time as they grow up. Don't let them ever see a naked body either OMG!! SHOCKING!! Whatever...

[Abbi]

Good Idea!! It's so much easier...er lazier to just pull the book instead of talking with your child about that issue!! Wait until the kid gets into Middle School, then you'll get to pull the classmates that use that word all the time!!

Bah, typical black over reaction. No wonder why no one will take them seriously. Get off your high horse and complain about the blacks using the word to excess in pop-media daily if it's that offensive. Oh right, you can't play the black card against blacks can you!

[cutter]

I wonder if the NAACP had something to do with it. These kids will here/see worse outside of a school or library. They better never watch T.V or listen to rap music. I wonder if the child was white and objected to a cracke comment. What would hve happend??

[enoughalready]

Good lord.I work at a store located in south St.Pete and hear blacks call each other that word DAILY!! Now if the content matter was above grade level,that is a different matter-but DO NOT censor a book based on a word blacks use regularly.

[OMG]

Shame on the administration at Turner. A good old fashion book burnin' solves nothing!

[Carrie]

Bet the same parents have no problem with the music their little darling is listening to. What hypocrites.

[CJ]

"The subject matter of The Land is above the maturity level of elementary students at Turner,"
So Turner is less mature than the other elementary schools?
Or is Darryl Brown and the people that made this decision not mature enough to get over it?

[alan]

400 years of black whining!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CJ]

Mildred D. Taylor isn't white, good thing, or else all he!! would have broke loose having a cracker write such a book like that.

[Joe]

Darryl "Hitler" Brown the book burner.

[Kristy]

I agree that simply removing a book solves nothing. I also agree that it is better to speak with children about an issue than trying to hide it. I do not agree, however, with some of the racist and generalized comments that have been made on this message board. I realize you are hiding behind anonymity here, but please take responsibility in what you say and how you think.

Ignorance is all over this page. I wouldn't care if the was age appropriate and talking about sex, i dont want my child reading or hearing it. I hear white people calling themselves and their friends the N word also. It 's a figure of speak but a very stupid one. Everyone needs to grow up and act their age. And yes 400 years in having to put up with bullsh**

[CJ]

Hey Kristy... hope I didn't get thrown into your racist comment category.

I personally think the people that pulled the book are a bit on the racist side.

[Bruce]

So, Mildred Taylor won both the Newberry award and the Coretta Scott King Award (for this book). Very nice. I will have to get my kids to read it so they don't grow up ignorent of the race issues this country faces. Gotta do something - since the kids at Turner Elementary are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. Thanks Educators!

While you are at it; ban Spinners, Grillz, Rap Music, Nooses, the word Black, Black Crayons, Black Cars, Tar, Cotton, Hip Hop, Long Shorts, Short Longs, Gold Chains, Silver Chains, the word Nappy, the word Hoe, the word Ho (sorry Santa, the word has been hijacked), gold teeth ...on and on....

You don't have to put up with the bull***, you can go back to Africa. I hear it's really nice over there. Lots of farms sitting idle waiting for the exodus from the US.

[andrea]

when we begin to remove books from a library, aren't we on a slippery slope? i remember some felt that the harry potter series was inappropriate and even "evil"--should we now ban those books as well? we all want to protect our children from inappropriate material, but the difficulty is that we each have our own idea of what that standard is. the fact that the book received the Newberry and Coretta Scott King award seems to suggest that the message of the book would put the use of the "n" word into a respectable context rather than out of ignorance or disrespect. i don't envy the school--it is a touchy issue and ultimately, they have to balance all those different viewpoints. it is my hope that in trying to respect others feelings we don't unintentionally fall in to censorship.

[no name]

i think that the black issue needs to end! Get over the past, you were not the only slaves in this world. Stop living in the past and start living up to the future.

[A man from niger]

Keeping themselves stupid! Thier doing a better job than any slave owner could...hahahahaha Black and stupid hahahahah

[geo]

dang honkies

When will all the junk science and self-help books be pulled?

Is anyone else surprised that they could actually read the book?

In all seriousness, with black literacy rates as low as they are, pulling books by black authors that could actually grab the attention of young black students is a bad idea.

[jr]

While I can see it being pulled for being too mature (Mildred Taylor is an excellent author whose books are geared towards middle-schoolers.), I hope it really wasn't because of the n-word. She's a black author writing about a time when it was a common word! It's called reality, however ugly it might be. I taught Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry to 8th graders in St. Petersburg ten years ago and had no issues at all.

People need to wake up!

[Bill]

Anybody read Huckleberry Finn?

[scott]

I remember an Indiana teen getting expeled for walking up behind 3 girls around Christmas time and saying; HO, HO, HO......

Scott

[Timmy]

I calls my brothas dat alls the times blood. Gets a lifer don't ya knows CRACKERs!

[eloquentmind]

This is a shame. Mildred's work is a credit to the people and time period she writes about.

Hey, let's censor everything... then the kids will know nothing... and be completely prepared for the real world!

[ian]

This is a story about the use of English and the 'Times' manages to use the phrase '....The Starplace, what used the N-word and....'.

F

[rowdy]

Sounds like the KKK is alive and well in FL. BIGOTS The word should not be used. PERIOD.

[Scott]

Give it a rest "brothers and sisters". The world is'nt a bad place and you can make an impact by getting a education. Please realize that a high school education does not make you a doctor or lawyer.

Scott

[Scott]

I mean "brothas n sistas". Spelling is really, really important in education and I see it lacks here. eh?

Scott

[teacher]

This book would be difficult for most elementary students. Most of them would not choose it because of it's thickness alone. It's too bad the students who are reading above grade level will no longer have access to a Florida classic.
In my experience, students self-censor what they are not ready to read.

This is the sort of ignorant, unimaginative response one would expect from a moronic parent steeped in traditions of illiteracy and back-woods bubba-bludgeoned, brain-stunted mud-eating, moonshine-moaning, inbreeding. Censoring a book of this kind would not seem to be the intent of modern, thoughtful, educated persons practicing the fine art of parenting. On the other hand, one never expects anything but over-reaction and idiocy from administrators... no surprise there.

[Kokopeli de Alamogordo]

This is the sort of ignorant, unimaginative response one would expect from a moronic parent steeped in traditions of illiteracy and back-woods bubba-bludgeoned, brain-stunted mud-eating, moonshine-moaning, inbreeding. Censoring a book of this kind would not seem to be the intent of modern, thoughtful, educated persons practicing the fine art of parenting. On the other hand, one never expects anything but over-reaction and idiocy from administrators... no surprise there.