The classics vs YA discourse on twitter is dripping with white privilege and racism.

Of course the literary cannon needs to be revised throughout time - that is literally the point of having a cannon. And of course the exclusion of people of color & harmful representations and stereotypes must be faced head on.

I keep remembering in 11th grade when we were reading Huck Finn in a mostly white classroom and the white teacher asked us to vote on if we should read the "n word" out loud. How that must have felt to the few Black students in the room.

Or in 6th or 7th grade when our teacher pulled Anne Frank from the curriculum because boys felt uncomfortable reading about the interior life of a girl.

I made a joke about hating Hawthorne the other day (which I do) but that's not the point at all. It doesn't have to be Classics vs. YA - but classrooms that are inclusive and thoughtful in terms of representation and discussion of problematic elements are better for all kids.

And once again on this app, we see people worried about "cancelling" and "bullying" of white authors who are being rude, derogatory, weirdly personal, deeply inappropriate, and also WRONG. Where are the tone policers against white writers spewing hate FOR NO REASON on this site?

I'm happy to talk about the value of classic literature and which classics should & shouldn't be in the cannon any day of the week. But that's not what this discourse is about right now. And I felt weird not saying something about this as I've watched it unfold.

Especially because as a white women I can say that I despise Hawthorne & don't think To Kill A Mockingbird should be taught in schools until I'm blue in the face and no one is going to dehumanize me on the internet or say I'm unfit to be teaching children.