Good morning, members of the school board.
A time has come for you to take a stand on a topic that touches the core of the education in this school. There is increasing pressure from a section of parents desiring the board to ban two novels that are used in the school for teaching. I am here to explain why the novels Dreamland Burning and The Hate U Give should not be banned from the curriculum. They are great resources for learning history and provide an in-depth understanding of the challenges minority people deal with every day.
Dreamland Burning tells the story of a seventeen-year-old girl, Rowan Chase, who discovers a skeleton in her family’s backyard. She sets out to uncover the truth about what happened to the body and, in doing so, discovers a violent truth about her town’s history. The story exposes race-related issues that have been around for centuries, giving students a different perspective on the history of racism in the United States. Rowan’s journey led her to discover more than she had expected: the long, dark history of racism in her town. From one generation to the next, the horrible truth about her town is hidden behind generations of silence.
Still, when Rowan urges the truth to be told, she finds out that her family’s past is deeply entangled with the history of racism. Through her journey, she discovers that her family, who she always assumed were innocent bystanders, were, in fact, complicit and even instigators in the deeply sustained culture of racism that plagues her town. As she follows the depths of the dark history, she learns how prejudice and violence related to race have played out for centuries and how the effects of such racism and discrimination still linger today. She meets many people, including descendants of the original African-American settlers and those fighting for justice for African Americans-today, from whom she learned of racial complexities in her town and the United States. Therefore, Dreamland Burning is an incredibly powerful novel for readers and students. The novel provides a different perspective on the history of racism in America while exploring and reflecting on the complex issue of race through its thought-provoking narrative.
Dreamland Burning allows students to explore difficult topics troubling American society: racism and police brutality. The novel places readers in history and encourages them to examine how past wrongs still affect the present. The author used a first-person narrative, which lends the students a more intimate and impactful experience. In Dreamland Burning, Rowan’s story helps readers understand the struggle and resilience of African Americans during the 1920s and its lasting implications into the modern day. For instance, there is a broad resentment among the police force towards the African-American community in the US. This has led to police abuse on blacks, with the common case being that of George Floyd that led to the rise of Black Lives Matter movement.
Additionally, the novel gives the students an opening to develop emotional intelligence when it comes to racism and police brutality. The story effectively highlights the difficulties that members of marginalized communities often face while demonstrating that justice is possible with the right effort and determination. Therefore, this insight is invaluable for students growing up in a world filled with inequality and injustice, as it helps equip them with the knowledge and tools to actively make a positive difference to shape a better future for all.
The novel provides an important layer of understanding to readers. It contains messages that remind readers that history is not simply a series of dates but real events and stories that have shaped our society and continue to affect it today. Dreamland Burning allows the reader to consider how history relates to their current lives, and students can use the stories to understand and grow from our past. It opens up conversations and debates on tough, important topics so that the students can closely relate to modern diversity, history, and culture. The novel provides an entertaining and approachable way to understand and engage with history, culture, and current issues and is perfect for any student looking to explore these topics.
The Hate U Give tells the story of a sixteen-year-old girl, Starr Carter, an African-American teen living in a poverty-stricken neighborhood. When Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her best friend at the hands of a police officer, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery and advocacy as she navigates through being caught between the two drastically different worlds at her home and at school. The novel provides students with a deep understanding of the impact of police brutality and institutional racism on those living in poverty. The novel paints a picture of the issues and challenges the minority people in the United States struggle with in achieving their American dream. The story offers an eyewitness account of the trauma inflicted on teenagers who live in poverty due to the policies and institutions of the present day. Starr’s narration captures the raw emotion of a young woman coming to terms with the injustice, fear, and anger that come with living in an oppressive system and the helplessness of being unable to do anything about it.
The Hate U Give novel is a great example of the impact of art on education. The book is filled with emotions and thought-provoking messages that allow students to learn about a certain topic without explicitly being taught. The novel provides important discussions touching on racism, bigotry, and oppression in a new and fresh way that is informative and accessible to readers of all ages. In telling the story, the author features characters that students can relate to and learn from, cutting across different stages of life, allowing readers to witness their growth, struggles, and triumphs. The students can see themselves through the characters in the novel and use their stories as models to guide their lives by connecting and sympathizing with the characters on a much deeper level.
Furthermore, the book provides an excellent way to help students develop critical thinking and analysis skills. It stimulates the reader to question and explore the various implications of the topics they present. The novel provides an educational platform to talk about issues of race and oppression; hence, it can be used as a prompt for classroom discussions. It is important to remember that the novel is not meant to be taken as a literal reflection of reality. Instead, Hate U Give provides readers with an imaginative exploration of the underlying issues minority groups face in the US. It allows the students to form ideas about the complexities of life safely and educationally. The students can further understand the struggles fellow learners go through in their different lives at school and at home.
In conclusion, Dreamland Burning and The Hate U Give books provide students with unique insight into literature while being easy to understand and educational. They can help spark important conversations about race and oppression while giving students an innovative platform to explore these topics. The stories of Dreamland Burning and The Hate U Give allow students to gain an understanding of societal dynamics, as well as gain prior knowledge of the struggles of minorities. It would also provide a safe environment for students to ask questions and form their opinions on the topics. Furthermore, instructors can use the stories to teach the importance of fighting against injustice and the power of collective action. Adding these books to the curriculum would benefit students by giving them the knowledge and tools to succeed. Without an understanding of underlying social issues, students are disadvantaged when moving on to a higher level of education in the workplace and society. Therefore, adding these books would greatly benefit the students, their families, and the entire school community.
I urge the school board not to ban Dreamland Burning and The Hate U Give novels. The students should not be denied access to a greater understanding of the world, nor should they be deprived of the knowledge these books provide. As educators, we must ensure that all students have an education that allows them to reach their fullest potential. With this in mind, I strongly urge the school board to reconsider its ban and enable these novels to remain in the curriculum.
Thank you for your time and consideration.