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The case of Barry and Sharon Taylor against including Maya Angelou's book "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" in the Anne Arundel County Public School curriculum rests on two points. First, they believe that the book is vulgar, that it is poor literature, and that it is inappropriate for use in the public schools for young people of any age. Second, they argue that proper procedures were not followed by the school system in handling their concerns. To support their first contention, the Taylors read out loud from the book. They honestly believe that anyone who reads the book will immediately agree with them. The book itself is really their only evidence on this point. The mere fact that the book uses profanity, that it discusses rape, violence, and racism, sometimes in graphic terms, makes it inappropriate, they argue. For good measure, they threw in a questionable petition, and the testimony of a few others who agree with them. Everyone knows that the Taylors will lose on this point. The widely-praised, award-winning book stands on its own. It needs no further defense. The second issue raised by the Taylors is not quite so clear cut. They argue that their son was kept in the classroom while the book was being used, for a short period of time, after they had requested that he be removed. They resent a letter that his teacher sent home. They feel that their objections were not taken seriously. And they believe that the panel chosen to evaluate the book was hand-picked to ensure a result favorable to the book. It does appear that the panel convened to evaluate the book, although demographically inclusive, excluded many people who objected to the book. The decision of that panel was a foregone conclusion, just as the decision of the School Board handling this appeal is a foregone conclusion. As a result of the Taylors' complaints, the school system has changed its procedures. If there was nothing wrong with the procedures in the first place, why were they changed? By making modifications in response to this case, the school system has, in effect, conceded the point. Something was wrong, but now they have fixed it. Whether this point will be grounds for a successful lawsuit, only time will tell. |