The Washington Post reports that “progressive” teachers in in Washington state are attempting to get To Kill a Mockingbird, authored by Harper Lee, banned in schools in order to “protect students.”
The report notes that The Mukilteo School District teachers are adamant that the classic novel, published in 1960, is “outdated and harmful.”
Set in the deep South during the Great Depression, the book deals with themes of racial injustice, gender roles, and rape to name a few. While it was awarded the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and was voted the best book of the past 125 years by New York Times readers in 2021, it has long been criticised for use of racial slurs by characters, with critics also suggesting the novel relies too heavily on stereotypes.
A student didn’t want to read “To Kill a Mockingbird” because it wasn’t “written about her — or for her.” That describes pretty much every book I ever read and loved. Isn’t part of the fun of reading losing yourself in an unfamiliar world? https://t.co/bVJLvzyaXY
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) November 3, 2023
