The WEJC doesn't seem to understand the concept of "education." Black kids (these are post-pubescent teens) should be made uncomfortable by the book. White people did and still do talk about them in nasty ways.

But it does seem odd that these kids are first encountering racism in this book. How can that be? Their response to Steinbeck should be "So what else is new?" Considering the real-world in which these students live, I'd be highly doubtful of their claims of harm. They sound more like a flexing of political muscle - a shout of "Jump" aimed at the white power structure to elicit a comforting "How high?"