School lesson using award-winning August Wilson play worries parents

PITTSBURGH — A school lesson using an award-winning August Wilson play has some parents concerned.

The play, “Piano Lesson,” was written in 1987 and won a 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It’s set in Pittsburgh in 1936 and features a strong female character who confronts African American history.

Propel Schools was using the play as a part of a discussion about race in America.

“There’s other plays they could’ve used to implement what they wanted to teach our children,” Monica Dixon said.

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Dixon is the mother of an eighth grade student who brought home a copy of the play that frequently features the N-word.

“We don’t take it upon ourselves to one edit history and we do not take it upon ourselves to edit Pulitzer Prize-winning works,” said Sonya Toler, Propel Schools spokesperson.

Toler said the play was part of a nationwide curriculum program.

“It’s called EL. This is something that has been in the works for probably close to a year. It’s not something that an individual educator decided to do,” Toler said.

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