Virginia School District Deletes Sherlock Holmes Novel From 6th Grade for 'Anti-Mormon' Portrayal

[rug]

A parent's complaint that a Sherlock Holmes novel is anti-Mormon has led to its removal from the sixth-grade reading list in a Virginia county school system.

In a unanimous vote, the seven-member Albemarle County school board chose Thursday night to remove the Victorian-era detective novel, "A Study in Scarlet," that introduced Sherlock Holmes to the world from the county's sixth-grade curriculum because the novel is not "age-appropriate" for 11 and 12 year olds.

"We decided the book is not age-appropriate to be assigned in toto for sixth-grade students," Harley Miles, the board's vice chair, told ABC News. "It certainly can be used in older grades, but there's lots of other books that could be used for sixth grade."

The school board of the affluent district located outside Charlottesville was forced to consider the ban after parents challenged the book on grounds that it denigrates the Mormon religion.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/virginia-school-district-deletes-sherlock-holmes-6th-grade/story?id=14289890

[get the red out]

1. They need to learn to deal with it

People need to learn to deal with any religion being denigrated. We live in a world of opinions.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. Arrghhhhhh

:mad: :mad: :mad:

[villager]

3. Hopefully, someone will give them all copies of "Angels in America" to read!

:thumbsup:

[Jim__]

4. A comment from a poet and teacher on teaching "Huckleberry Finn" to 10th graders.

The comment (source)

That prompted an op-ed by Shelley Fisher Fishkin (linked to in Haven’s post) defending the book and decrying censorship. One day later, Haven added another post that included this comment by poet Sam Gwynn <my link - Jim>:

“Frankly, I just can’t teach it any longer. I know it’s great, and I can lecture for a day or so about how Twain is being faithful to the dialects and to the way that people spoke back then. But trying to lecture about its literary merits takes a back seat when I see how African American students (I’m talking about teenage sophomores, taking the class for core credit) are reacting to the iterations of THAT WORD. The problem is that Twain doesn’t distinguish between those who are using the word in a ‘kindly’ manner (we could probably assume that this is the only word for black people that Huck has ever heard) and those who are using it an an epithet. Used indiscriminately in these ways, it just makes everyone in a classroom uncomfortable. Maybe if I were a better (or younger) teacher I could use this book to challenge all kinds of assumptions about language and art. I just don’t find myself up to the fight anymore, at least at the sophomore level. I think this is a pretty good 2/3 of a novel, but I really wonder why it has become canonized as the GAN.”

Haven adds this note on GAN: “That’s the Great American Novel for the uninitiated.”

In this case, they're removing the book from the 6th grade curriculum - and leaving it in "older grades" - not specified. I think we're all against banning books. However, I do think there is such a thing as "age appropriate" books, especially books that are part of the curriculum. Since this book was banned from the 6th grade, the real question is, is this ban "age appropriate?"

[Goblinmonger]

5. This book is appropriate for the age group.

It isn't my favorite Holmes book and I would probably have chosen to teach the Hounds. That being said, the passage in question is just silly. This book was written during the time when Mormons were active polygamists and the person speaking says he wouldn't want his daughter to marry a Mormon because that isn't really a marriage at all. That's the whole problem. Get over it. 6th graders can handle that. Good time for a history lesson on why Mormons don't officially advocate for polygamy any more.

And not teaching Huck Finn because of the word "nigger" is a pretty clear indication that you don't get the novel. It isn't in the book because "that's how they spoke back then." It's in there because you see an arc of how Huck uses the word. He stops calling Jim that when he finally sees Jim as a human being.

[laconicsax]

6. Breaking: Story published in 1887 includes references to facts of the time.

When "A Study in Scarlet" was released in 1887, polygamy was still an official practice of the Mormon church in Utah but it has since been denounced.