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courses of all the universities, should be prohibited to the children of the people in the public schools?
From the prohibition of the Bible to the prohibition of Shakespeare, the whole Jewish course has been a colossal mistake, the reaction from which will be to belittle Jewish public judgement in the future.
It was all very well said by a correspondent to the Newark Evening News, January 13, 1920:
- “To the Editor of the News:
- “Sir—Protests have been made by the representatives of the Jewish, Scotch and colored races against Shakespeare’s being used in the public schools, the former because of the portrayal of Shylock in ‘The Merchant of Venice.’ Some Scotch folk have protested, as I understand it, to the Newark Board of Education, on account of the character given Macbeth. The colored folks, judging from the letter printed in the News from Washington, do not like the character Othello, owing to his despicable treatment of Desdemona. As a descendant of the Welsh race, I enter my protest in behalf of that ancient people in regard to Shakespeare’s ridicule of Henry V, of the Welshman, Captain Fluellen, who is made to look as if he did not know anything about war.
- “I have no doubt that others could find fault with Shakespeare’s penchant for holding up the weak side of some of his characters, so I think that Shakespeare and the Bible might well be kept out of the public schools because both books are rough on certain people whose identity is clearly shown. The board of education is to be congratulated for taking action in the matter, which promises at this late date to place the Newark educational system in a class all by itself.”
