PORT ANGELES — A controversial book from the Fairview Elementary School library is now in the hands of Port Angeles School District officials.
The book, Yankee Doodle’s Literary Sampler of Prose, Poetry & Pictures, contains racial slurs and 19th century caricatures of African Americans.
Kerri Andreyka, the mother of a fourth-grader who checked out the book, brought it to the attention of school and district officials two weeks ago.
The more than 400-page book is a compilation of poems, stories and artwork published during the 1800s for the education and entertainment of children.
Andreyka said she found one of the poems, “Simple Addition by a Little [N—–],” appalling.
The poem is a nine-page instructional book that uses the “n” word repeatedly in a rhyme to teach children how to count to 10.
Elementary school level?
The book is intended for historical “comparative literary analysis,” according to the district, but Andreyka and members of her family have questioned its presence in an elementary school library.
However, an official complaint form has yet to be submitted, Schools Superintendent Gary Cohn said.
“I looked at the pictures and I find the stuff offensive,” he said, but a review of the book can’t take place until Andreyka files a complaint form.
Once a complaint is filed with the assistant superintendent for instruction, the book will undergo review, Cohn said.
