In 2019, the American Library Association listed it as No. Since the 1960s, the book has faced challenges from inclusion in classrooms and libraries because of its language and subject matter. But many readers have also lionized Scout’s father, attorney Atticus Finch, who represents Tom Robinson, the innocent man on trial, despite the blowback and legal injustice that Finch expects to come. The events take place in the 1930s in a fictional Alabama town that was based on where the author grew up. The novel’s narrator, Scout, tells the story of a trial of a Black man falsely accused of rape and assault of a white woman - events that unveil the community’s racism, sexism and classism to Scout’s 6-year-old self. PBS viewers selected it as their top novel in the 2018 special The Great American Read. Oprah Winfrey has called it her favorite novel. Perhaps it reinforces your growing suspicion that you are unlikely to get a fair trial should you stand accused of something like Tom Robinson.” “But imagine instead that you are an African-American eighth-grade boy in Mississippi today, and are asked to read Mockingbird. “Many who defend Mockingbird as a choice for curriculum are imagining students emboldened by Atticus to ‘fight for right’ or inspired by Scout to be better than the society into which she is born,” wrote author Alice Randall in 2017 for NBC News. Their calls also echo writers in recent decades who have taken issue with what many fans believe is the moral of Mockingbird’s story, with the emphasis on identifying with Atticus and Scout as examples of how to be a good person living in a racist society. School districts in Bellevue and throughout the country have also reconsidered Mockingbird as part of middle and high school curricula. The book was made required reading in 2016 as part of a curriculum adoption, and has been approved in the district since 1992. The teachers’ request was the first time in 20 years that someone has proposed removing a text from the Mukilteo curriculum, Chandler said. They said the district should consider additional training for teachers to navigate sensitive texts. “It’s hurtful and it’s harmful.”Ĭhandler said several teachers did come to the book’s defense in front of the instructional materials committee, saying the themes in To Kill a Mockingbird still have relevance today and and the book can help students develop critical thinking. “They have to sit in that classroom and read derogatory terms,” Nguyen said. Thien Nguyen, a Mariner High School senior who represents students on the school board, said the district should also consult students on the matter. Instead, students should be taught in environments that respect them, he said. “It’s not about banning or censoring books,” Doug Baer, another Kamiak teacher, told the school board at the same meeting, adding that the novel will still be available in libraries throughout the district.īaer said kids should not have to “endure embarrassing and offensive language” during class discussions of the book. The criteria include grade appropriateness, how the material fits other textbooks and whether the textbook is free of ethnic, racial, gender or religious bias. That committee, made up of teachers and community members, approves all curricula in Mukilteo schools, assessing every textbook, including language arts, math, science and social studies. The district’s instructional materials committee agreed with the teachers about removing To Kill a Mockingbird from the ninth grade required reading list, but voted to allow teachers to continue to use it in their lesson plans. “We need to examine carefully … whose collective memory we are upholding,” she said. The teachers also cited concerns that characters in the book frequently use the N-word while no character explains that the slur is derogatory, and that the word and the portrayal of Black characters cause harm to students of color.Īt a school board meeting earlier this month, Verena Kuzmany, a teacher at Kamiak, questioned the “romanticization” of the book as a “cherished classic.” The teachers’ objections to the book included criticism that Black characters are not fully realized and that the book romanticizes the idea of a “white savior.” The book will not be not banned, however, and teachers may still choose to assign the book in their classrooms. Three teachers at Kamiak High School made the request in the fall to remove Lee’s iconic novel from the required ninth grade curriculum, said Monica Chandler, the district’s director of curriculum and professional development, told Crosscut in an interview before the school board approved the proposal.
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