Call to cancel Of Mice and Men over n-word

Angel Mhande says the classic book is negatively impacts Black and white students

A STUDENT has urged for Of Mice and Men to be stripped from being learnt in the GCSE Literature syllabuse because of its use of racial slurs, including the n-word.

Angel Mhande, from Belfast, told BBC News Northern Ireland that the racial slurs being said in classrooms with Black and white students was “uncomfortable”.

The novel was released in the 1937s and is set in the backdrop of the Great Depression as migrant workers attempt to find work in California. 

In Steinbeck’s depiction, George Milton and Lennie Small are the central characters, but a character called Crooks is exposed to racism because he is Black. 

Speaking to BBC News NI, the A* student said: “I just don’t find Of Mice and Men appropriate for schools and how that impacts young Black people, and young white people.

“It’s a very violent book to begin with but it’s mostly just to do with racism and how that affects me and some other black students in my class.”

She added: “It’s just really uncomfortable sitting in a classroom where we have to listen to racist slurs and comments.

“I understand the history behind it and stuff but you can learn that in history about slavery.”

Schools in Northern Ireland and Wales have the option to select Of Mice and Men among several others books for GCSE English literature. The classical novel is not on the syllabus in England, but is a favourite among schools.

However, Angel believes that the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) should replace the controversial book for students. 

Her calls for cultural sensitivity comes after English literature classics by children’s writer Roald Dhal and crime novelist Agatha Christie have been labelled by critics as “offensive” and underwent editing due to derogatory references of race, mental health and gender. 

Critics say that books written in a different era believe the language shouldn’t be tolerated today because of creativity. While others, think the books should still be a option but educators should avoid using racial slurs while teaching. 

Between 2010-19, Of Mice and Men was labelled one of the 100 most challenged books during the years, according to the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom,

Professor of American literature at Queen’s University Belfast Philip McGowan told BBC News NI: “We can’t just eradicate books from the past and their contexts,” he said.

“But if we are going to teach them in the 21st century we need to be alive to and aware of those contexts.

“It’s a really important text to get students to engage with but, yes, teachers should have some guidance about some of the terminology, some of the words used and how outdated they are.”

In a statement to BBC News NI, a spokesperson for CCEA said: “Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck has featured on the CCEA GCSE English Literature specification for many years due to its popularity with both teachers and students. The novel does not examine slavery.

“It does, however, include the character Crooks, a disenfranchised Black ranch worker, where the surrounding narrative alludes to racial segregation and prejudice in 1930s America.

“The language given by Steinbeck to characters in the book reflects the discriminatory language and attitudes of this period, which we recognise as offensive today.”

The spokesperson added that they were committed to giving students the opportunity to engage with a “diverse range of texts, themes and ideas that resonate with them through their study of English Literature”.

Comments Form

4 Comments

  1. | Chaka Artwell

    Pupils, and Students, and undergraduates, and the Politically Correct, Liberal, Left-wing, middle-class men and women, should be conscious of the cultural; political, racial, and theological epoch of earlier ages; in which classic authors: journalists, clergymen, and academics, freely used racial phrases such as coolies, and negroes and niggers.

    Period racial expressions should not be expunged from classic books such as Huckleberry Fin, by Mr Mark Twain, and Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men.

    Reply

  2. | Tamara Stevens

    “Of Mice and Men” is a book about power and its abuses. Racism is but one of the abuses of power in the book, there is also sexism, ableism and classism. But we have decided, as a society, that only racism counts now. But do we now lose the books written by Black authors that use the n-word? Richard Wright’s Native Son? Alice Walker’s The Color Purple?
    Should we only have books that treat every person with respect? The basis of conflict lies in offense. Steinbeck’s purpose is to expose the casual racism, but also other hierarchies of power – a pertinent topic now.

    Reply

  3. | Caris Connor

    My son is 13 years old. He is in a class of children aged 12 & 13 ( Year 8). His school was “delighted” to share that Of Mice and Men is the chosen book for English lessons this term.
    It’s 2024 and educators still feel that reading this book, saying, listening and encouraging children to say the N word ( in a safe environment I’m told) will help support discussions on racism.
    When will this change? When will the voices and experiences of our children be heard? When will the impact of sitting in an educational setting and hearing, reading, seeing the N word be discussed with those in power to stop this material being on our children’s curriculum.

    Reply

  4. | CORA DELILAH HUGHES

    I have read this book independently and am now studying it in English Literature. I was amazed at how refreshingly human its black character (Crooks) was for a book so old – and it seems my current educators agree with me. In my own course, it is regarded as an excellent critique of the time’s prejudices, like racism. Yet we should stop recommending such a powerful book to students just because it shows who used the words that came from those prejudices? Without even thinking about why they’re there?
    It’s puzzling to me that who I assume to be an intelligent young lady is so disgusted by the only words a man living in such a deprived time knew for the character he was creating in earnest, and that the book is “very violent,” that she is willing to ignore that Steinbeck was showing his society’s blind spots in a negative light, being one of the first people to do so. Ironically, it’s completely against a message that he shared which echoes into our present world.

    Reply

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