Readers respond to a piece by Nels Abbey on the book’s place in schools and share their perspectives as students and teachers

Having taught Of Mice and Men for 30 years in multicultural schools in London, I wholeheartedly agree that it is a difficult, problematic novel to teach in secondary school classrooms, particularly because of some of the characters using racist slurs ( Would you drop Of Mice and Men from the exam syllabus? The answer isn’t black and white, 6 January ). However, to imply that it is educationally redundant does not acknowledge other important positive messages it contains, still relevant today, that do not appear in less problematic alternatives.

During the 1930s, John Steinbeck was inspired by marine biologist and ecologist Ed Ricketts to describe how survival ultimately depends on diverse individuals or groups collaborating and working towards collective benefits. In his novels, Steinbeck champions the inclusive diverse group over the individuals holding power. He provides a counter argument to the sweeping enthusiasm for eugenics in California at that time.

Insp Charles Ehikioya could lose job after ruling that he took part in sharing of sexist comments and racist remarks

The head of the Metropolitan police’s Black Police Association (MBPA) committed gross misconduct over his participation in a WhatsApp group that shared sexist comments and racist remarks about Asian people, a police tribunal has found.

Insp Charles Ehikioya faces potential dismissal after Friday’s tribunal ruling at Palestra House in London. It found he was in a chat group with a former officer, Carlo Francisco, where racist, misogynistic, homophobic and pornographic messages were sent.

The diagnosis rate for black men was found to be 1.5 times higher and they were also 14% less likely to receive life-saving treatments

Black men in England are more likely to be diagnosed with late-state prostate cancer than their white counterparts, while being less likely to receive life-saving treatment, analysis by the National Prostate Cancer Audit has found.

The analysis found that black men were diagnosed with stage three or four prostate cancer at a rate of 440 per 100,000 black men in England, which is 1.5 times higher compared with their white counterparts, who had a diagnosis rate of 295 per 100,000.

Politicised by her child’s death, Blouin traded ideas with Lumumba and Nkrumah in the fight for freedom. Plus, Detroit’s Black-led tech boom

Hello and welcome to The Long Wave. Over the festive break I read Andrée Blouin’s memoir, My Country, Africa: Autobiography of the Black Pasionaria . It is a remarkable autobiography that feels like a relevant reflection on the present, not a historical account. It moved me to write a sort of salute to Blouin by sharing her story. But first, the weekly roundup.

ASA acts on poster campaign by Wahed, urging people to join a ‘money revolution’, after receiving 75 complaints

The UK’s advertising watchdog has banned a campaign by an online investment company predominantly targeting Muslims that featured images of euros and US dollars and the words “The United States of America” in flames alongside a call to “join the money revolution”.

Wahed Invest Ltd, an online investment platform, ran six posters on various Transport for London (TfL) services, including the London Underground and on buses, last September and October.

In Liverpool Riverside and Tottenham, two constituencies with black MPs and large black communities, Labour’s vote share dropped by more than 20 points at last year’s election. The Guardian spoke to voters there to find out what they have made of the party’s return to power

In Toxteth, a fast-gentrifying area of Liverpool that has for decades been the nucleus of the city’s 300-year-old black community, Saeed Olayiwola considered how the Labour government compared with the Conservatives. “I don’t see much that sets them apart at the moment,” Olayiwola said.

Since Keir Starmer’s government took power six months ago, voters in two urban constituencies, both represented by black Labour MPs – Liverpool Riverside and Tottenham in north London – have been weighing up the party’s decisions and talking to the Guardian.

Andrew McIntyre, who pleaded guilty to encouraging violent disorder, motivated by racial hatred, says judge

A man described as a leading organiser of last summer’s riots has been jailed for seven and a half years for using social media to encourage people to take part in the disorder.

Andrew McIntyre, 39, set up a Telegram channel called “Southport Wake Up” in the immediate aftermath of the knife attack in the Merseyside town on 29 July last year, Liverpool crown court was told.

The book will no longer be studied at GCSE in Wales because many find the racial slurs upsetting. That’s culture war fodder, but it shouldn’t be

In years to come, we might call it the Steinbeck problem. Of Mice and Men is one of the most banned books in the United States and will no longer be studied at GCSE in Wales from September – a reaction to the racism and use of racial slurs within the text.

Is this something to mourn, or cause for wild celebration? It is complicated. Indeed, it represents a near perfect literary and moral conundrum for the education system of a multicultural, multiracial society. Especially one plagued with culture wars fought in bad faith.

Nels Abbey is an author , broadcaster and the founder of Uppity: the Intellectual Playground

Nisha Desai is part of growing conservative push to curtail diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in corporate US

PayPal has been sued by an Asian American businesswoman who accused the digital payments company of racial bias for restricting part of a $535m investment program to Black and Hispanic applicants, costing her millions of dollars.

Thursday’s complaint by Nisha Desai and her New York-based venture capital firm Andav Capital is part of a growing push among some conservatives to curtail diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in corporate America.