> It's a shared point of reference to create a common culture. Sure but if we're talking about the US why does that canon have to almost exclusively consist of

> It's a shared point of reference to create a common culture. Sure but if we're talking about the US why does that canon have to almost exclusively consist of European and white American authors? Modern America has a diversity of family histories so I'd expect its schools to cover a diversity of literary sources that reflect this. If it were just American authors, you might have a point, but _Les Mis_ is neither integral to American culture as it exists today nor to anything it was before. Something also tells me the kids don't need _Les Mis_ to learn to embrace social justice and oppose abuses of power. Speaking as a (not quite but getting there) old white man: if the kids need books to understand we might be progressive and empathetic, we've failed at being progressive and empathetic and they're right to think otherwise.