Mice and Men Under Fire

A Kansas City mother is pushing to have John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men removed from the school's required reading list. She objects to the book's use of the n word.

According to UPI, Dana Washington said: "The N-word is used more in this paragraph than most rap songs, and I think that's absolutely ridiculous .. I'm not asking for the book to be banned, but for it to be removed from the list of required reading in the USD 500 school list. ... I want them to find another book that doesn't use the word so violently and profusely."

The school's response: "It's not a pleasant part of our history," David Smith, a spokesman for the school district, told KMBC-TV. "But kids these days need opportunities to learn about it, understand it, not in a sanitized 21st-century way, because that's how we move forward in society."

Let me preface any discussion with this caveat: I’m in no way saying that the use of n-word is acceptable. However, I don’t think the answer is removing Of Mice and Men from the reading list.

John Steinbeck’s classic focuses on two migrant workers during the Great Depression. One of them has limited capabilities that result in the book’s tragic ending. Although it’s painful to read racist words it also reflects what was happening in our country at that time. Instead of pushing to have the book removed from the list, why not approach it as a chance to discuss racism in our country and the power/harm of racist words? If we ever hope to learn from history it’s not by ignoring it or shying away from the unpleasant bits.

What do you think?

New book looks at the WPA

In the midst of the Great Depression, President Roosevelt created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) with the aim of putting Americans back to work. Across the country, hundreds of Americans did a myriad of jobs from paving roads, fixing bridges, painting murals and writing essays and plays.

Workers employed by the WPA built several landmarks including Camp David. The program had its critics and still does. Some argued that participants were engaged in frivolous projects. Others claim that the program did not help end the Depression. Looking back, however, one could argue that a program of such magnitude has never been replicated.

A new book, American Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA, When FDR Put the Nation to Work by Nick Taylor looks at this historical program. Amazon has a great video of Taylor talking about his book,

http://www.amazon.com/American-Made-Enduring-Legacy-When-Nation/dp/0553802356/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208216235&sr=1-1

The WPA encompassed many different missions – rebuilding/ expanding the country’s infrastructure and supporting the arts. For instance, the murals at San Francisco landmark Coit Tower were done by the Public Works of Art Project. The Cradle Will Rock was a play that was originally supposed to be staged as a production of the Federal Theater Program. It was shut down under protests that political pressuresthat it was too leftist leaning were behind the closure, not monetary ones. The actors went on to put the play on themselves. (Tim Robbins’ Cradle Will Rock dramatizes the events surrounding the play and its attempted closure - http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0150216/)

A few years ago, I had one of those “great find” moments, when I came across New York Panorama. Originally published in 1938, it’s a collection of essays on New York City such as “The Press: Newspaperman’s Mecca.” The FWP employed 6,600 people. I find it hard to even conceive of a program like this happening today. You might recognize some of the people who participated in the FWP, such as Saul Bellow, John Cheever, Ralph Ellison, John Steinbeck, Richard Wright and Zora Neale Hurston.

Additional reading:

Book traces history of WPA, which employed millions in U.S. during Depression,

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080325/entertainment/books_wpa_1

The Shock Doctrine, http://www2.nysun.com/article/74068