MORE REACTIONARY CENSORSHIP
Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None has been banned by the Upper Canada District School Board.Kevin Connor - Toronto Sun
Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None has been banned by the Upper Canada District School Board.
“As noted, the text includes anti-Semitic references,” the board wrote in a letter to schools on May 19.
“This moment provides a strong reminder of the importance of reflecting on and acting on the harm that texts can perpetrate on students — texts that in another time might have appeared innocuous or contextually appropriate.”
The letter goes on to say as the Ontario College of Teachers professional advisory on Anti-Black Racism reminded all educators, “a recent amendment to the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996, … now stipulates that making remarks or engaging in behaviours that expose any person or class of person to hatred on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination under Part 1 of the Human Rights Code’ is an act of professional misconduct.”
The board said this is one proactive step it can take that we can take in to ensure that the texts we assign our students meet the threshold of our duty to protect students from discrimination.
Cara Zwibel, with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, say she is not in favour of banning books.
“They can make the decision what is appropriate for different ages. A better approach would be to use this as an opportunity to discuss the issues,” Zwibel said.
“Not having access to a book concerns me. Lets talk about it.”
Marvin Rotrand, National Director of B’nai Brith Canada’s League for Human Rights, says he can find no convincing proof of overt anti-Semitism in this book, but adds some of the descriptions of the characters reflect the attitudes of the time.
“I’ve seen some critics write that they wish a few lines weren’t in the book, but all seem to agree that it would be better to teach the book and provide historical perspective for the readers than to ban it,” Rotrand said.
“I am not calling for others to emulate the example of the Upper Canada District School Board. Teachers should provide the historical perspective needed, as they do in teaching Shakespeare, so that the high school reader can recognize the books literary merit and comprehend how Christie’s writing reflected the attitudes of her time.”
“As noted, the text includes anti-Semitic references,” the board wrote in a letter to schools on May 19.
“This moment provides a strong reminder of the importance of reflecting on and acting on the harm that texts can perpetrate on students — texts that in another time might have appeared innocuous or contextually appropriate.”
The letter goes on to say as the Ontario College of Teachers professional advisory on Anti-Black Racism reminded all educators, “a recent amendment to the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996, … now stipulates that making remarks or engaging in behaviours that expose any person or class of person to hatred on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination under Part 1 of the Human Rights Code’ is an act of professional misconduct.”
The board said this is one proactive step it can take that we can take in to ensure that the texts we assign our students meet the threshold of our duty to protect students from discrimination.
Cara Zwibel, with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, say she is not in favour of banning books.
“They can make the decision what is appropriate for different ages. A better approach would be to use this as an opportunity to discuss the issues,” Zwibel said.
“Not having access to a book concerns me. Lets talk about it.”
Marvin Rotrand, National Director of B’nai Brith Canada’s League for Human Rights, says he can find no convincing proof of overt anti-Semitism in this book, but adds some of the descriptions of the characters reflect the attitudes of the time.
“I’ve seen some critics write that they wish a few lines weren’t in the book, but all seem to agree that it would be better to teach the book and provide historical perspective for the readers than to ban it,” Rotrand said.
“I am not calling for others to emulate the example of the Upper Canada District School Board. Teachers should provide the historical perspective needed, as they do in teaching Shakespeare, so that the high school reader can recognize the books literary merit and comprehend how Christie’s writing reflected the attitudes of her time.”
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