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South Carolina teacher Mary Wood
Teacher Mary Wood returned to her classroom this semester with more than just the usual back-to-school jitters. As a veteran teacher at Chapin High School in South Carolina, she faced a heated debate over race in the state’s classrooms that put her professionalism and community reputation on the line.
“Starting school was weird,” Wood said. “I was unsure how I would be received. I don’t venture much outside the English department.”
Last year, Wood’s choice to use “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates in her advanced placement language arts class stirred controversy, leading to backlash from community members, school administrators, and strangers.
Despite pushback and censorship, Wood stands by her choice to use Coates’ memoir, as it fostered argumentative writing in her students and provided valuable discussions on systemic racism.
Wood’s brave decision disrupted the class atmosphere and took the free-flowing discussions and debates away from her students.
Recalling her experience during the controversy, Wood became more reserved in expressing herself in classroom discussions. She realized that the student-teacher relationship had been disrupted and also contemplated leaving her teaching career.
Even as her educational work has been disrupted, it has garnered wider attention outside of school. Last week, she appeared on a panel for the Center for Journalism and Democracy at Howard University in Washington, D.C.