It was selected by readers of The New York Times as the best book of the last 125 years. The play based on the book was a hit in theaters despite the coronavirus pandemic plaguing the world and theaters across the world and in New York in particular especially hard. It continues to be one of the most successful shows on Broadway. Generations of children in the US grew up reading the book. Yet despite the powerful statement it makes, there are those calling to remove "To Kill a Mockingbird" from schools. Some have even said copies of the book should no longer be printed.
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The plot perfectly suits the atmosphere of the times: Tom Robinson, a black man, is accused of raping a young white woman. Atticus Finch, a father of two, represents him at trial. Finch admirably fights for Robinson while the racist justice system and residents of the town automatically assume he is guilty of the crime. While Finch looks for justice so that he can look his children in the eyes and see himself as someone worthy of the title of attorney, the entire system wants to see Robinson bleed.
The author of the book, Harper Lee, was born in Alabama. She was a descendant of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The fact that she is a white woman and a scion of a racist family is enough to accuse her of racism. In 1961, she won the Pulitzer Prize for the book, and in 2007 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Yet for America in 2022, that just simply isn't enough.
In today's America, the very fact that a white woman wrote about the life of a black man amounts to racism. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is the story of a moral white man and white courage, not black justice, they argue.
Just like that, some would have us cancel a significant literary work because it doesn't tell the exact story they would like to hear. Why raise something for discussion in a classroom when it can be banned outright?
When the system behaves like this, there is an immediate counter-response: In eight US states, there is legislation dictating how schools should teach racist and gender discrimination. Teachers in states like Texas and Tennessee now find themselves scared to say anything about institutional racism in either the current or historical context. The censorship imposed by both sides of the political aisle ensures any debate or discussion is superficial at best.
An interesting class debate involves conflict. Academic debate involves emotions. We cannot constantly walk on eggshells and expect to expand people's horizons. Politics and politicians are slowly turning the US education system into a predictable bore.
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