Columbus East High School will perform a play this fall, but the drama will certainly not be controversial. The school has had enough controversy already this semester.
Recently, the high school, located about 40 miles south of Indianapolis, opted not to perform a stage production of "To Kill A Mockingbird," after the cast had been rehearsing the production for weeks.
According to an editorial in The Indianapolis Star, assistant principal Gary Goshorn decided the play's "volatile racial language" was too much for teens performing the play as well as the mixed audience of high school families.
Initially, the decision seems to make sense. There is no need to present a play containing racial slurs when plenty of wholesome productions could be used. Why run the risk of offending someone?
But think back to your high school days when, chances are, you were required to read the Harper Lee.
"To Kill A Mockingbird" was the only novel Lee ever wrote, but it has become an American classic. And the genius of the novel hasn't only been recognized recently. In 1960, the book's first year of publication, 2.5 million copies were sold.
The message the book sends about race relations and standing up for what you believe makes Columbus East's decision look foolish.
Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don't pretend to understand.
Don't get angry with me for writing that. I didn't say it first. Harper Lee did, through Atticus Finch, the book's protagonist.
"To Kill A Mockingbird" uses the word "Negro." It even uses the word "nigger," but the meaning is never found in a word alone. Instead, it is the context that counts.
Lee doesn't advocate racial slurs or racism in general. In fact, her message is quite the opposite, as shown in this quote from Atticus.
"Whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash."
This novel teaches that racism exists and some people will get "stark raving mad" at the simple utterance of a racial term. Why, then, would you cater to the people who get mad by preventing the play - and its message - from reaching the stage?
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People argued that some people just wouldn't respond well to the production. Judging by The Indianapolis Star's article, there wasn't much opposition to their case.
They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions, but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.
But don't get angry with me for saying that. Atticus said it first.
Write to Jay at jdkenworthy@bsu.edu
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