The Importance Of White People In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has been challenged/banned countless times since it’s original publication in 1960. The reasoning people could have behind banning it is that they feel that the racism, language and subject matter in the book is offensive, inappropriate, immoral and that it encourages and condones such things. To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in Maycomb, a small town in Alabama, during the depression from 1935-1937, and is told from the perspective of a little girl named Scout. In the book Scout’s father Atticus teaches her and her brother Jem many valuable lessons. The things Atticus teaches Scout and Jem are things we all need to know. To Kill a Mockingbird is an inspirational book that teaches valuable moral values,

In the 1930’s black people were highly discriminated against. This was mainly because many black people started to migrate form the south to the north in order to find employment. Many

Although some people think that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be banned, it should not because in the book readers get to experience a character grow in morality and the book shows the history of the country but in a fictional way that is interesting to young readers. Banning books is doing a complete injustice to young students, who do not get the chance to read inspirational and historic books because of the heretics of people in their

The second reason why To Kill a Mockingbird shouldn't be banned is because it tells a

People have words they use with their family that would be hurtful had they come from outsiders. Gloria Naylor makes a great point when she articulates, “So there must have been dozens of times that the word “nigger” was spoken in front of me before I reached the third grade. But I didn’t “hear” it until it was said by a small pair of lips that had already learned it could be a way to humiliate me” (483). Naylor grew up hearing “nigger” everywhere she went. It was used as a term of endearment. It was used to describe people with great achievement. Occasionally it was used to describe a small group in the community who were not great people (481). However,

First, To Kill A Mockingbird should not be banned in public schools because people need

“We can’t let them get away with this. We can’t let them get away with calling us the n-word. I say we teach them a lesson.

“Banning books gives us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight,” Stephen Chbosky. Books open up people’s minds to new ideas and allow people to the world in a new light. Banning books only makes one want to read those books more- to learn and poder over the controversial issues. One controversially banned novel is the The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This book while still has lessons to teach people in today’s society, including the ignorance of racism to addressing modern day issues; therefore The Adventures of Huckleberry FInn should not be banned.

Tom Robinson’s case, in which we see in that time period how a white man’s word goes against a black’s, is perceived as unfair by Scout, Jem, Atticus, and many of their neighbors. As Atticus says to Jem, “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it–whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.”(295) This quote explains that there is great injustice and extortion for personal gain. This is disturbing in its own right; The fact that Atticus needs to even make a comment like that is disturbing in its own right, let alone that any person would do that to another, also tells Jem this: “So far nothing in your life has interfered with your reasoning process. Those are twelve reasonable men in everyday life, Tom’s jury, but you saw something come between them and reason. You saw the same thing that night in front of the jail. When that crew went away, they didn’t go as reasonable men, they went because we were there. There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads–they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life.”(295) Even a man like Atticus, a sort of rebel in that time period, accepts that the system is

This then resulted in blacks not able to win any arguments against them, thus separating them further. When Scout and Dill meet Dolphus Raymond, he also says “Cry about the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people, too.” (Lee 269). The two races are separated by power and skin colour so it causes issues between both sides. The whites treat them as lesser beings than themselves, which also leads to them misusing power and causing troubles for the blacks.

The fact is, either way, students cannot be forced into reading any book. The same goes the other way around, students should not be denied the right to read a book either. No one is forcing students to read To Kill a Mockingbird, and if a parent feels so strongly against the book, they should be able to discuss the matter with the teacher and receive an alternative piece of literature. “Having the freedom to read and the freedom to choose is one of the best gifts my parents ever gave me” (Blume). When books are banned and censored, not only is the reader being deprived of the text in its original glory, but the author is being denied of their freedom of speech and press.

As the United States “progresses” in economic, educational and technological advancements we still are fighting for racial equality. With more than 50 years since the brown vs. board of education case there is still incidents like Ferguson, Baton Rouge, and Phiando Castile where many questions are still unanswered. However, Harper Lee dealt with these same problems in 1960 when she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee created an emotionally confronting story. Lee writes through the eyes of “Scout” a lawyer’s daughter in a small sleepy town of Maycomb in Alabama during the great depression. Throughout the book “Scout” learns coming of age lessons from Atticus and her own experiences. But when Atticus takes on a case defending a black man (Tom Robinson) convicted for rapping a white woman (Mayella Ewell) and is found guilty. “Scout” her brother Jem begin to understand the effects of the prejudices in society. Therefore, Lee applies the literary concepts of diction and tone to revel the truth that prejudices in society negatively affect the way people treat each other in To Kill a Mocking Bird.

How much should be censured by school systems and why are some books accepted while others are not? This is what some people think about when deciding whether or not to ban certain book from their school systems. Furthermore, why my topic on whether or not To Kill a Mockingbird should or should not be band in school systems is important to talk about because it is a book that has an enormous amount of people that argue over it. Moreover, people who want To Kill a Mockingbird to be band believe that the book has negative impacts on children's minds however people who don’t want To Kill a Mockingbird to be band believe that the book teaches important topics that is usually hard to teach students. In addition to this, To Kill a Mockingbird should not be banned from school because it teaches children good life lessons about empathy and doing the right things.

Around the globe many books are banned from schools and libraries because of their content, although many others disagree with the banning of books because it takes away our freedom of speech. Many books are banned and challenged because their content is considered inappropriate or offensive to others. But, others find that it goes against our first amendment rights when they take away what someone else has written. Butler University also shows other reasons for why books are often times banned. Also, many are outraged that books like To Kill a Mockingbird is on the banned books list because they are time-honored books. Many people believe books should be banned because their content is deemed inappropriate for younger audiences or because their content is on sensitive subjects. However, others believe it is our first amendment right to be able to read these books and that books contain important lessons in them.

One of the most controversial topics in history is banning books. All over the world, books are banned for a multitude of reasons. Three of the most popular are graphic violence, sexual content, and explicit language. There are also books that have been banned on the grounds of religious and racial discrimination. This includes American classics such as, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, and “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. These appear in high school English curriculum all over the United States. Even though there may be “offensive” or “inappropriate” statements in many of these books, authors have the right to showcase their work under the First Amendment. Books should not be banned on any grounds, as it is not the parents, schools, or states responsibility to decide what is displayed for the public, no matter the audience.