On Monday night, the Mukilteo School Board in Washington approved a resolution to strike To Kill a Mockingbird from school reading lists. The move was supported by District Superintendent Alison Brynelson, according to the agenda.
The book has been controversial since it was written by Harper Lee in the 1960s. It has always been a big seller and the theme addresses the unfairness of racism.
The school decided the book is racially insensitive. However, it is actually anti-racist by depicting the times as they were and the cruelty that ensued.
The novel is not outright banned and can still be found in school libraries, however, and teachers may be allowed to use it in the classroom if they choose, Fox News reported.
According to the school district, parents, teachers, and students who spoke at the school board meeting spoke overwhelmingly in favor of removing the book from the required reading list, with one student arguing that the book “…did a lot of damage” to her as the only black student in the classroom.
“It really did a lot of damage,” said district spokesperson Diane Bradford to Fox News. “Not only was it uncomfortable but for her, it turned out to be traumatic because of the way that it was handled and what it brought out with her classmates,” Bradford said. “She said it actually led to more use of the n-word and she felt bullied as a result of her response in class.”
If that did happen, it sounds like the teacher handled it badly. The book should teach the opposite.
The school is now basically burning the book.
The book is set in the 1930s and focuses on a young white girl who must learn to understand the racial injustice of her small Alabama town. In the story, her father, a lawyer named Atticus Finch, defends a black man falsely accused of raping a young white woman. Despite all evidence proving his innocence, the jury finds the man guilty of rape.
The book focuses on racial injustice and its message is clearly anti-racism.
Subscribe to the Daily Newsletter
wpDiscuz
