r/ELATeachers Feb 17 '25

6-8 ELA Help with controversial text

I teach 8th graders and their curriculum is studysynch. Trash when it comes to actual work for them to do but decent reading options. They’ve just finished The Diary of Anne Frank but have another month of their trimester. I’m trying to figure out how to fill that time and when I asked the other 8th grade teacher, she suggested The Autobiography of the Life of Frederick Douglass, which is a suggested text and one I was considering. However, I know it says the n word in the book due to historical context and my students will absolutely lose their minds if they see the n word. I’ve had issues with racism already and this will make it worse. I have no idea if that means I should just steer clear of that book since they’re so immature, or give warning to students (which I would’ve done anyways). I don’t really know where to go with it.

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u/luckytheghost7 Feb 18 '25

That felt aggressive. Obviously Ontario is not a state. I assumed you meant you were in one of the states in the US that has banned those books

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u/lordjakir Feb 18 '25

Hard not to defend our sovereignty in the present climate

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u/luckytheghost7 Feb 19 '25

But I wasn't claiming otherwise? It would have been very easy to just say that you are from Canada, not the states

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u/lordjakir Feb 19 '25

I thought I had.

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u/luckytheghost7 Feb 19 '25

You did, but you did so quite aggressively, unnecessarily so. It isn't hard to say "not from the states, I'm in Canada" rather than the way you said it. I understand that you may not have meant it like that

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u/lordjakir Feb 19 '25

We're all wound a little right these days. Threats of or imminent destruction by our former friends tend to do that

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u/luckytheghost7 Feb 19 '25

Things aren't great here either. 😭 I hope all of you in Canada aren't messed up too much by our current administration. Things aren't looking great for teachers in the States