http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/587504%2C6_1_NA04_ALE
XIE_S1.article

Speaker stirs the pot with racist anecdote
Author says it was necessary to make point

October 4, 2007
By Tim Waldorf Staff writer

Several Naperville North High School students stormed out of a presentation
by American Indian author Sherman Alexie on Friday following his retelling
of the most "vile and evil" insult he'd ever heard.

"What is most encouraging is that our students recognized immediately that
while the intent was good, the delivery did not belong in the high school
setting," North Principal Ross Truemper said in an e-mail message
distributed to parents Tuesday evening.

The offending statement uses the "N-word" in a context unfit for
publication in a family newspaper. It is a tasteless joke that's well known
in areas of the county with larger American Indian populations, according
to Alexie, who visited Naperville last week while touring the country in
support of his highly acclaimed new book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a
Part-Time Indian."

The book is based on Alexie's own childhood. Now known as one of the
country's best authors and poets, Alexie was born on the Spokane Indian
Reservation in Wellpinit, Wash., and, along his path to success, overcame
numerous physical handicaps, extreme poverty and the kind of in-your-face
racism captured in a story he tells at all of his appearances, including
his stops at Naperville Central High School and Anderson's Bookshop last
week.

"A kid says it in the book. I say it when I tell the story," Alexie said.
"It is described before the joke is said as the most vile and evil thing my
narrator has ever heard. It is described as vile and evil. The kid says it,
and then he gets punched in the face (by the narrator) for saying it."

Nonetheless, when he told that story at North, some in the audience
"started flipping out," said two North students when asked Wednesday to
describe the scene. They said those who were offended reacted vocally and
physically, letting their opinions of Alexie's presentation be known as
they knocked chairs aside while walking out of his speech.

North Principal Ross Truemper said Alexie's edgier approach shocked
students and staff. In particular, though, a small group of black students
were offended by his comments and left the room, Truemper said. So did a
staff member who suffered some of the same disabilities as Alexie and
didn't appreciate the way he made light of them. Truemper said he thought
Alexie's language was "inappropriate for a high school setting."

"Educated people should be able to express themselves, still make the
point, still allow people to connect the dots, without having to use those
kinds of terms and those kinds of stories," he said.

Truemper said students and staff discussed Alexie's presentation and the
controversy it stirred Wednesday during their first classes.

"I think we had very productive conversations about the positives of the
message as it was intended, and also what upset a number of students here,
and what do we learn from that, as well," he said.

Alexie disagreed Thursday with Truemper's take on the situation.

"This is the time when young adults are becoming adults, and none of these
ideas, none of these words, none of these fears and dreams and hopes are
alien to them," he said.

Alexie also said he believes those who were offended took his story out of
context. For that he apologized Wednesday, saying he was "sad" he "hurt
somebody's feelings."

Still, Alexie stood by his presentation, which he has delivered without
incident a number of times on his current tour. He stressed that North's is
a "singular response" from a few students, and he said the outpouring of
support he received from many North students since his speech is proof that
his message - his "story of a kid triumphing" - resonated.

"I certainly understand how people could be shocked by the impact of the
words, but that's the point," he said. "That's the point, to show how the
odds were against this kid, what he was having to deal with, the racism,
the complete culture shock he was dealing with."

Contact Tim Waldorf at twaldorf@... or 630-416-5270.