# Shorewood HS Cancels "To Kill a Mockingbird" Over Planned Protest



## MNicolai (Oct 12, 2018)

> When Shorewood High School chose "To Kill a Mockingbird" as this year's annual fall play, it seemed a relevant commentary on the times.
> 
> Based on the Harper Lee classic about a white southern lawyer defending an innocent black man in the 1930s, it is a story about segregation and racism, a broken criminal justice system and the sacrifices of those who would stand up for what is right.
> 
> ...




https://www.jsonline.com/story/news...s-mockingbird-over-n-word-protest/1605307002/


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## Van (Oct 12, 2018)

OMG 
in 2018?


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## BillConnerFASTC (Oct 12, 2018)

So was it the left or the right that was going to protest?


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## sk8rsdad (Oct 12, 2018)

I wonder how they would feel about The Laramie Project? Matthew Shepard was in the news today, too.


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## Van (Oct 12, 2018)

BillConnerFASTC said:


> So was it the left or the right that was going to protest?



Hard to tell but it was definitely over the 'N' word, which I think if they had actually read the play they might have understood the context. 
From the article:
_'Censoring the word "will not educate (people) about the atrocities from which it was born," one mother said on a Facebook post. "It's ugly and raw," she said. "It's my hope that the administration and faculty offered proper explanation and historical relevance."

Senior Grace Dresang, who was required to say the word as the gossipy Miss Stephanie, said there was considerable discussion among the cast and in classes, but perhaps not enough in the broader community.

"What's most disappointing to me is the fact that this is a show about racial acceptance and the fact that segregation and racism are not OK. And I don't think that theme was really well-understood by the community around us."

Phillips, who objected to the use of the word, said the play would have had the same impact without using the word.

"I don't think anyone would have gone home upset because they didn't get to hear the n-word," she said. "You can still get the point across." '_


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## microstar (Oct 13, 2018)

I guess the Superintendent didn't read the part in the license agreement about not changing the words in the script.


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## Jay Ashworth (Oct 13, 2018)

> "I don't think anyone would have gone home upset because they didn't get to hear the n-word," she said. "You can still get the point across."

We *want* them to go home upset because they heard "The N Word" (which I usually would spell out in this referential context, but I'm sick of being banned by people who don't understand the use-discussion dichotomy); that's the entire damned point of it being in there and doing the play.


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## TheaterEd (Oct 15, 2018)

They've now scheduled a community outreach session on Tuesday and a performance on Wednesday.


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## Scarrgo (Oct 16, 2018)

We had one of our High Schools do this show a couple of years ago, and they did not change any words, they felt that this is a time period show, and that was the mind set of some folks in that area at that time. The teacher had many discussions with the actors about how/why things were said.
The young man that played the part did a fine job, and his parents and grandparents came to see him, and were very proud of his work.( and yes, they are African American)

Rant* And on a side,(my personal feelings, you have been warned)
They say if you ignore history, you are bound to repeat it, and I personally feel that is what is happening in our country today...makes me very sad....because history is rarely pretty and nice....we must never forget... End Rant


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## StradivariusBone (Oct 16, 2018)

I think it was on the DVD commentary for "Blazing Saddles" where Burton Gilliam (Lyle) was quoted saying that he had reservations about using the slur toward Cleavon Little. Little assured him that it was OK, saying it was all in fun and if he thought Gilliam was the type of person who would use that word outside of the script they'd go toe-to-toe. I think Mel Brooks even hedged on it, but Richard Pryor (who was originally cast as Bart) pushed him harder, telling him that they needed the impact of the word to reinforce the stupidity of the racism of the antagonists. 

I can't speak from the standpoint of having been called a name that equates to a history of prejudice and injustice, so I can't fully sympathize with people who feel strongly about it not being used, but I would like to think that I'd still see the importance of using it to teach and remind us of the pain and suffering that results when we disenfranchise groups of people based on race, religion or creed. It is what it was for the time. And if we change it to suit our present needs, we lose a piece of the history in the process. 

It's OK that history sometimes makes us uncomfortable. Anyone who's gone through their middle school yearbook ought to recognize that.


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## MNicolai (Oct 16, 2018)

I would be interested what dialogue had or had not been opened with the students (some of whom are black) who were objecting to this. My suspicion is that in general, schools have shyed away from having any dialogues on race, including any role the arts/satire/etc have in affecting positive change.

Last year at my former high school about an hour from Shorewood HS, there was an uproar from certain parents after a group of students held an activity after an MLK Day assembly. The activity was supposed to examine privilege -- primarily to encourage empathy and awareness that not everyone gets an equal shot at life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It was lead by students, trying to open a dialogue with other students -- this was not instructors trying to indoctrinate anyone, whatever that means. Parents more so than students wrote hate mail to the school district. Few months later the principal resigned. School board member resigned that same day out of protest of the principal getting pushed out. A new district policy went into effect that the only context where conversations about privilege would be permitted would be where teachers were instructing students and it was immediately relevant to the curriculum -- which is IMO the least effective way to promote empathy -- it's not something you can teach, merely something you can invite.


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## StradivariusBone (Oct 16, 2018)

MNicolai said:


> schools have shyed away from having any dialogues on race, including any role the arts/satire/etc have in affecting positive change.




MNicolai said:


> Parents more so than students wrote hate mail to the school district. Few months later the principal resigned. School board member resigned that same day out of protest of the principal getting pushed out.



That about sums it up. We very often put upon our schools the mantle of societal change in that they really are at their core a factory for creating citizens. At the same time they are starved of resources and decried for indoctrinating our youth with dangerous ideologies like treating people like you'd like to be treated, regardless of what they look like. The amount of sway a loud and angry parent gets in most of these situations is startling.


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## rsmentele (Oct 17, 2018)

But now its back on!
https://waow.com/news/wisconsin-new...rm-to-kill-a-mockingbird-despite-controversy/ 
And then promptly cancelled again
https://www.jsonline.com/story/comm...17/shorewood-play-cancelled-again/1668869002/


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## TheaterEd (Oct 17, 2018)




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## BillConnerFASTC (Oct 17, 2018)

Amazing.


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## MNicolai (Oct 18, 2018)

Latest update to the JSOnline article. A 17 year-old was arrested for making the threat to one of the protesters.


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## rsmentele (Oct 18, 2018)

Like we've all heard before... Can't we leave the drama on stage?


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## TimMc (Oct 20, 2018)

"Now serving our signature cocktail, the 'Tequila Mockingbird', with a shot of wry on the side."


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## Jay Ashworth (Oct 21, 2018)

StradivariusBone said:


> I think it was on the DVD commentary for "Blazing Saddles" where Burton Gilliam (Lyle) was quoted saying that he had reservations about using the slur toward Cleavon Little. Little assured him that it was OK, saying it was all in fun and if he thought Gilliam was the type of person who would use that word outside of the script they'd go toe-to-toe. I think Mel Brooks even hedged on it, but Richard Pryor (who was originally cast as Bart) pushed him harder, telling him that they needed the impact of the word to reinforce the stupidity of the racism of the antagonists.


You remember it exactly the way I do; it's from the DVD special features, though it's also on YouTube.


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