{"id":169070,"date":"2025-09-29T22:22:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T22:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/169070\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T22:22:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T22:22:09","slug":"dorset-school-ban-on-book-about-race-is-a-mistake-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/169070\/","title":{"rendered":"Dorset school ban on book about race is a mistake | Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">I wish to add my support to those wanting to reinstate Angie Thomas\u2019s The Hate U Give to\u00a0the reading list of Budmouth Academy (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/education\/2025\/sep\/26\/dorset-school-urged-reinstate-book-race-banned-the-hate-u-give\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dorset school urged to reinstate banned book about race to reading list, theguardian.com, 26 September<\/a>). As\u00a0both an alumna of the school and a professor of English literature, I am deeply concerned about this act.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The rationale for the ban for year\u00a010 \u2013 that the novel teaches children that \u201cskin colour\u201d makes them \u201cbaddies\u201d \u2013 is simply not supported by the novel. At its centre is a relationship between young people from different ethnic backgrounds learning about racial difference from each other. The suggestion that \u201cby extension\u201d the novel leads Britain itself to be cast as \u201ca baddie\u201d is deeply worrying.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">It suggests a notion of Britishness that excludes non-white people but does include Americans \u2013 perhaps recalling our own migrant and colonial history. There is an irony\u00a0there that those supporting the ban may wish to ponder.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Finally, as a first-generation academic who learned the importance of literature in that very library, I am keen that we widen rather than narrow the opportunities for reading. Progression into higher education is <a href=\"https:\/\/news.exeter.ac.uk\/faculty-of-humanities-arts-and-social-sciences\/new-study-warns-south-west-is-a-higher-education-cold-spot\/#:~:text=There%20are%20different%20barriers%20to,areas%20(24%20per%20cent).\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">lower in south-west coastal communities<\/a> than elsewhere in the country. Budmouth students should be encouraged to read and expand their knowledge of the world \u2013 especially when it doesn\u2019t coincide with their own worldviews.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">This novel has been powerful in encouraging children to come back to reading and should be celebrated for that. The ban is crude dog-whistle politics and Weymouth\u2019s young adults deserve more.<br \/>Prof Nicky Marsh<br \/>University of Southampton<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\"> Have an opinion on anything you\u2019ve read in the Guardian today? Please <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/education\/2025\/sep\/29\/mailto:guardian.letters@theguardian.com?body=Please%20include%20your%20name,%20full%20postal%20address%20and%20phone%20number%20with%20your%20letter%20below.%20Letters%20are%20usually%20published%20with%20the%20author%27s%20name%20and%20city\/town\/village.%20The%20rest%20of%20the%20information%20is%20for%20verification%20only%20and%20to%20contact%20you%20where%20necessary.\" data-link-name=\"in body link \" https:=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">email<\/a> us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/tone\/letters\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">letters<\/a> section.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I wish to add my support to those wanting to reinstate Angie Thomas\u2019s The Hate U Give to\u00a0the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[457,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-169070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-books","tag-books","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}