A South Carolina teacher was reprimanded for giving her students a book written by Ta-Nehisi Coates. The Washington Post reported that English teacher Mary Wood received backlash from her students and their parents. The book she assigned to her all-white class was Between the World and Me, in which Coates explains what it means to be Black in America.
One student wrote that the book felt like “reading hate propaganda towards White people.” Multiple students wrote in emails that the book and videos Wood played about systemic racism made them ashamed to be white. The complaints come from a state that has voted to limit classroom teachings on race. Parents also complained, prompting school administrators to order Wood to stop teaching the lesson and to place a reprimanding letter in her file.
The school system in which Wood was teaching is the same one she attended growing up. Over the summer, Wood’s lesson made it to the local paper and was debated at school board meetings and in online Facebook groups. Conservatives called for Wood’s job, while the NAACP applauded her efforts.
The Washington Post has reported that at least 160 teachers have lost their jobs since the start of the pandemic due to “political” debates. This includes a Texas principal who was allegedly terminated for promoting critical race theory and a Tennessee teacher who told white students that white privilege is a fact.
