In Which Biloxi Mississippi Public Schools Makes Me Start To Read An Extra Book plus added Barry Town

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As I've said before in this blog there are moments as a reader where a book pushes itself into the must read list whilst all the others have to wait a little longer for my attention. This time though it was caused by the actions of the Biloxi School District of Mississippi.

For this district has dropped Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird from it's reading list because some people were "uncomfortable" with the language. This I suspect is the use of the N word.

I suspect that context is everything. I suspect that given the context of the novel the use of the N word is acceptable or else surely it would have been withdrawn years ago. I suspect that it's withdrawl by the Biloxians (who sound like a Doctoer Who villain) for this reason is a travesty of what Harper Lee was writing about.

However I haven't read the novel. Purely because there are so many books but so little time. But the Biloxian action literally (and literary) got me off my backside to go the main borough library in Barry Town and get it.

Which I did.

Thirty Million People Can't Be Wrong

Once the book was borrowed I walked along the main high street of the town knowing that a barbers was nearby. When I saw it I entered. A young man led me to a seat and, after I gave him my normal vague instructions (trim, sideburns and hair on the back of my neck cut) started on my silver mane.

Now there came a moment when the barber stopped, looked at the book I'd put on the shelf and said:

"That's a great book". He'd read it at school

So after all these years he could recall it not just being "good" or "readable" but "great". Also the fact that he'd read it at school should perhaps make the Biloxians wonder how it is that no one is querying the right of Welsh children to read this book but it's somehow deemed too tough for American children to grasp any degree of nuance or context into it's language. Here's a hint. Kids aren't stupid when it comes to this sort of thing.

By the way for the record the guy did a good haircut. I know this because wife/daughter liked it. And if you can pass their stern gaze then you've got to be good.

One quick aside. When I mentioned that we'd moved from Bridgend a look best described as pity entered the barber's face. Bridgend Town is now having a reputation as a place of decay in South Wales. Reputations, especially bad ones, take a long time to change.

This Was The Barbers. Bagnalls

I have to admit that Barry Town has grown on me in the past few months. Of course no one is going to look at it and immediately confuse the place with Venice. And also no town is perfect. But it seems to be a friendly sort of place where people will stop you in the street to chat (which actually happened to me, when someone I knew as a boy called me. He's now taller and married with children).

I was told by the barber that Barry Town was like Bridgend Town until investment was put in. Perhaps Bridgend Labour Council might seek tips on how to turn urban decay around. Somehow though I doubt it.

Barry Town Today

Until the next time