The Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) has asked teachers to no longer have students read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie because of anti Semitic references. .“The text was first published around 1939 and is no longer relevant or engaging to students,” said a UCDSB spokesperson in a Monday statement to the National Post..“The Upper Canada District School Board regularly reviews its curriculum offerings and course materials to ensure we are offering fresh, engaging, timely, and relatable materials to students.”.And Then There Were None was last used for a summer school course in July, according to the spokesperson. The book was removed from the course when offensive content was pointed out. .While the memo did not explain what anti Semitic references the UCDSB was concerned about, character Mr. Morris is referred to as “little Jew,” “Jewboy,” and as having “thick Semitic lips.” .The book has been criticized for past racist titles. Its original name was from a minstrel song with an anti-black slur, and it has been titled Ten Little Indians at times. .Christie is recognized as one of the best-selling novelists of all time, writing 66 mystery novels and 14 plays. And Then There Were None is the best-selling crime novel in history. .Christie’s books Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile have been accused of promoting racism and xenophobia. The Secret of Chimneys and Lord Edgware Dies have been criticized for using antisemitic tropes. .The memo said removing this book from curriculums is a step to ensure texts used in schools are not discriminatory. .UCDSB principals have been encouraged to talk with staff and students to ensure book selections are “appropriate and culturally responsive.” The school board does not offer information on how to decide if older books such as And Then There Were None are suitable, but a process to choose appropriate titles is being worked on. .Other incidents of books being censored have come up in Ontario school boards in the last few years. .English teachers in the Peel District School Board (PDSB) were urged not to teach To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee because it is harmful, violent, and oppressive to black students in 2018. .“The use of racist texts as entry points into discussions about racism is hardly for the benefit of black students who already experience racism,” said a PDSB memo. “This should give us pause — who does the use of these texts centre?”.The memo said the N-word appears 19 times in To Kill a Mockingbird..The conseil scolaire catholique Providence burned books that were offensive to Indigenous people in 2019. .About 30 books were burned for “educational purposes,” and the ashes were used as fertilizer to plant a tree. .“We bury the ashes of racism, discrimination, and stereotypes in the hope that we will grow up in an inclusive country where all can live in prosperity and security,” said a video prepared for students about the book burning.
