A BLACK pupil walked out of school in protest after the 'racially offensive' novel he is studying for a GCSE was read aloud in class.

Tinashe Makunike said he felt uncomfortable at the use of racist language in the classic To Kill A Mockingbird.

The novel is taught in schools across the country. Critics regard it as an anti-racist novel which exposes prejudice in Depression-era America.

But 16-year-old Tinashe, a prefect and the only black student in his class at Holy Family College in Heywood, near Rochdale, says reading the book in class made him feel 'inferior and undermined' as he had experienced racist taunts at the school.

He walked out after a drama company acted out scenes from the text using the word 'n*****'.

Alternative

He had already complained about studying it and his requests to read an alternative text were refused.

Published in 1960, the novel recounts the fictional trial of a black worker in an American small town who is wrongly accused of attacking a white woman.

Author Harper Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for the novel, which was turned into an Oscar-winning film, starring Geregory Peck as the liberal lawyer Atticus Finch.

Teachers argue that the book is highly critical of racism and the point of studying it is to challenge racism. But Tinashe, from Heywood, said: "My mum explained to the teachers that I wasn't happy about it, but I still had to sit through a drama where people were using those words.

"People speak like that in real life but we can study that in history or politics, there is no need to make up fictional stories about it.

Impact

"Books like this do nothing to alleviate or reduce racism but have contributed negatively to the school community with me getting the worst impact of its negativity.

"This type of book only creates and incites insights hate, violence and racism among races due to terms used in them, which are grossly degrading.

"Times have changed. Racist fiction should be buried in the past."

Tinashe said that after he complained, a pupil reading the book out in class was told to apologise to him after a character in the novel used racist language.

The teenager, who is studying eight GCSEs and some advanced exams, recently started attending lessons following a 10-day walkout.

His class have finished To Kill A Mocking Bird, but he will still have to study it for his GCSE exam.

Disobeyed

Tinashe has been at the school for four years and until this incident had a good record. Last Friday he was excluded following unconnected allegations that he disobeyed his teacher. He refutes the accusation.

Tinashe's family are backing him. Mum Thelma said: "He asked the English teacher to say that the terms used were not right. The teacher asked if he would like to use another word such as black.

"It was not necessary to put him in that position. I said to the headteacher that it wouldn't make any difference because in literature you have to quote the words as they are and therefore if you change it, it is pointless.

"Such books should be banned. This has affected his grades because he was getting A stars and his grades have now gone down to C and D because of pressure."

Sensitively

Headteacher Susan Casey said her staff had approached the subject sensitively and any incidents of racism in the school had been dealt with severely.

She said: "While the student was not able to have a choice of which two books he studied because this decision was teacher-led, we did inform the student ahead of him reading To Kill A Mocking Bird of its prejudicial nature and that it did contain a racially offensive word.

"Both texts allow teachers to address issues of prejudice so our students can gain a better understanding of its historical context. If the student felt uncomfortable at any time he had the option to approach me or his English teacher so we could discuss it.

"We are extremely concerned about the student's education as he has not attended lessons since scenes from To Kill A Mocking Bird were staged in school by an outside theatre company.

"We have a duty to provide education to our young people, but we do have a clear attendance policy and we are concerned by the student's absence as he is at a pivotal point in his GCSE education."