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Racial Injustice Reading List


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The New York Times recently reported on the sentence given to a group of teenagers who had vandalized a historic black schoolhouse.  They were ordered to read one book from the following list each month for 12 months.  I've only read a handful, and there are some here I've not heard of before.  

 

 

THE READING LIST

"The Color Purple," Alice Walker
"Native Son," Richard Wright
"Exodus," Leon Uris
"Mila 18," Leon Uris
"Trinity," Leon Uris
"My Name Is Asher Lev," Chaim Potok
"The Chosen," Chaim Potok
"The Sun Also Rises," Ernest Hemingway
"Night," Elie Wiesel
"The Crucible," Arthur Miller
"The Kite Runner," Khaled Hosseini
"A Thousand Splendid Suns," Khaled Hosseini
"Things Fall Apart," Chinua Achebe
"The Handmaid’s Tale," Margaret Atwood
"To Kill a Mockingbird," Harper Lee
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," Maya Angelou
"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," Rebecca Skloot
"Caleb’s Crossing," Geraldine Brooks
"Tortilla Curtain," T.C. Boyle
"The Bluest Eye," Toni Morrison
"A Hope in the Unseen," Ron Suskind
"Down These Mean Streets," Piri Thomas
"Black Boy," Richard Wright
"The Beautiful Struggle," Ta-Nehisi Coates
"The Banality of Evil," Hannah Arendt
"The Underground Railroad," Colson Whitehead
"Reading Lolita in Tehran," Azar Nafisi
"The Rape of Nanking," Iris Chang
"Infidel," Ayaan Hirsi Ali
"The Orphan Master’s Son," Adam Johnson
"The Help," Kathryn Stockett
"Cry the Beloved Country," Alan Paton
"Too Late the Phalarope," Alan Paton
"A Dry White Season," André Brink
"Ghost Soldiers," Hampton Sides

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When I read the thread title, HeLa was the first book that came to mind.

 

 

Me too!

 

Tell me, do you ever look at painted toenails the way you did before you read about Henrietta? I don't. 

 

****Spoiler for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks***********

 

 

We were listening to the audiobook (I checked out both the audio and print version from the library) when Deborah died. I didn't see that coming. I was (legally) driving 70 mph and started crying so hard. Just so sad. Thank goodness I didn't wreck my car!

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Me too!

 

Tell me, do you ever look at painted toenails the way you did before you read about Henrietta? I don't.

 

****Spoiler for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks***********

 

 

We were listening to the audiobook (I checked out both the audio and print version from the library) when Deborah died. I didn't see that coming. I was (legally) driving 70 mph and started crying so hard. Just so sad. Thank goodness I didn't wreck my car!

That was a very poignant moment. I remember exactly where I was when I read it.
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If one wanted to include a number of those books into high school, where would one go about doing it? I know some would fit well into American literature/history and I have a few already on our list for next year. But I am not familiar with all of the titles. I would like to do a semester of world geography and include books on social issues for different regions. How and where else could they be included? Thanks.

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