Duluth drops two American novels from reading list, citing use of racial slur


The novels “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” will no longer be required reading in the Duluth school district due to the books’ use of a racial slur, a curriculum change supported by the local NAACP chapter.

The two books will continue to be available in school libraries and can be optional reading for students, but beginning next school year, they’ll be replaced as required reading by other literature that addresses the same topics in ninth- and 11th-grade English classes, said Michael Cary, the district’s director of curriculum and instruction.

The district’s intent is to be considerate of all of its students, Cary said. The district owes it to its students to not subject them to a racial slur that marginalizes them in their required learning, he said. He added that district leaders felt that there are many other options in literature that can teach the same lessons as the two novels without containing a racial slur.

“We felt that we could still teach the same standards and expectations through other novels that didn’t require students to feel humiliated or marginalized by the use of racial slurs,” Cary said.