FOREST HILLS, Mich. — A Forest Hills mother says she is 'disgusted' by a school approved textbook.
Elements of Literature has been approved by Michigan's academic standards and is used at many schools including Forest Hills Eastern.
"There is an essay titled 'A Mason-Dixon Memory' and it is written by an African American actor, singer, song writer, author and minister by the name of Clifton Davis," says Principal Judy Walton.
Davis describes an incident where he was discriminated against and writes:
"It wasn't just missing the class adventure that made me feel so sad. For the first time in my life, I was learning what it felt like to be a "n*****". Of course there was discrimination in the North, but the color of my skin had never officially kept me out of a coffee shop, a church or an amusement park."
Samarhia Giffel's 7th grade daughter attends Forest Hills Eastern.
"I...I was disgusted to be honest with you...it shouldn't be written in the text," says Giffel.
"Just because the essay was written by a Black American and those words were written by a Black American does not mean that it needs to be studied, discussed or read in a 7th grade classroom," says Giffel.
The school is looking at reviewing all of their curriculum but as of now the textbook is still in use.
"Understand these are painful parts of our history and we don't want to silence those voices of African Americans who experienced these painful pieces," says Walton.
"I just wonder in 2021 why we feel we have to teach our children with these words, these words that...this word that is a slur...a racial slur," says Giffel.
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