NAACP steps into student flap

Associated Press

SEATTLE – The local NAACP chapter plans to investigate a suburban school district’s treatment of black students after the suspension of a 16-year-old who spoke out last spring against the use of “Huckleberry Finn” in English class.

Renton High School student Calista Phair has had two in-school suspensions since school resumed this fall, and one full-day suspension.

School officials say the disciplinary actions are unrelated to her book protest. Phair, her family and the NAACP are not sure that’s the case.

Phair opposed use of the Mark Twain classic, “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” in her 11th-grade English class last spring. The book, written in 1884, focuses on Huck, a 13-year-old white boy, and his friendship with a black man in the South.

Phair was unhappy with Twain’s portrayal of blacks and use of a racial slur. At her request, she was excused from reading the book. Phair also handed out fliers explaining her resistance in school hallways.

“I believe that the book is degrading and denigrating toward African Americans,” Phair said Wednesday.

After two in-school suspensions for tardiness, Phair was suspended for the day Monday for being insubordinate with the principal, said Carl Mack, president of the Seattle-King County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Mack said the NAACP chapter decided to look into the matter at the request of Phair’s family.

“We feel the Renton School District has taken it upon itself to retaliate against the young woman who expressed her opinion,” Mack said at a Wednesday news conference attended by Phair’s grandmother, Beatrice Clark, and father, Walter Phair. Calista Phair was in school.

“They’re not going to retaliate against my daughter. I want something done,” her father told reporters.

The NAACP also plans to look into disciplinary cases involving other black students, Mack said, noting that some parents in south suburban Renton have already contacted his office.

District spokesman Randy Matheson said Phair’s suspensions were not related to her complaint about the book. He said the district does not use excessive discipline with black students.

“The problem with this student is that she is now starting to act up a little and be disruptive in school,” Matheson said. Phair has been late on several occasions and was insubordinate with the principal Monday, he said.

Phair was suspended for the day by Principal Kathryn Hutchinson, who was hired over the summer and was not at the school during the book protest, Matheson said.

Phair contends the book is the issue.

“I’m going against the grain,” she said. “I’m going against something they’ve had at the school for 27 years and they don’t like the fact that I’m expressing myself and expressing my opinion about the book.”

At Wednesday’s news conference, Phair’s father and grandmother said they had advised the girl to try not to worsen the situation.

On Monday, when Hutchinson sought to reschedule a meeting with Calista about her request that the school post articles on hallway bulletin boards reflecting debate about Twain’s book, the girl refused to speak to her – prompting the one-day suspension for insubordination.

The NAACP has not taken a position on the teaching of “Huckleberry Finn,” Mack said, but is concerned about the district’s treatment of Phair, who had no record of disruptiveness before this year.

“If information shows that the district’s treatment was based on race, most certainly the NAACP will be at the forefront of pushing for a lawsuit,” he said.