To kill a classic: school ditches Harper Lee

Board removes Harper Lee classic from reading list, claiming it’s a ‘difficult book’ which ‘reflects a time when racism was tolerated’.

The cover of Harper Lee's classic To Kill a Mockingbird (foreground) and a scene from the 1962 movie it spawned. Pictures: Supplied

The United States is grappling with the legacy of one its greatest books over fears its handling of race may make teachers and pupils uncomfortable.

School authorities have pulled To Kill a Mockingbird from a required reading list for children aged 14 to 15 because it was a “difficult book” that raised “thorny subjects”. Harper Lee’s classic 1960 novel about a white lawyer defending a black man wrongly accused of rape in Alabama in the 1930s has long been a staple in schools, as well as the subject of deep controversy. It frequently appears on lists for both America’s greatest novels and its most banned.

A school board in Mukilteo, near Seattle, removed the book from its ninth grade curriculum, claiming it “reflects a time when racism was tolerated”.

The book’s use of a racial slur was also cited as a reason to remove it, while Atticus Finch, the lead character depicted as a hero in the 1962 film starring Gregory Peck, has been accused of not taking a harsh enough stance against racists.

John Gahagan, a school board member, said he read the novel last week for the first time in 50 years. “It’s a difficult book and a lot of thorny subjects are raised,” he told The Seattle Times.

“We felt that some teachers may not feel comfortable guiding their students through it.”

He said the novel “reflects a time when racism was tolerated”, adding: “Atticus is in everyone’s memory the great hero, but in fact he was kind of tolerant of racism around him. He described one of the members of a lynch mob as a good man.”

Gahagan, who emphasised To Kill a Mockingbird was not being banned and teachers were free to choose to teach it, also objected to Lee’s use of the n-word. “It never has a discussion about why that word is bad, why it is hurtful or why it should not be used,” Gahagan said. “You don’t really get the perspective of the pain that might cause people of colour.”

Despite the controversy surrounding To Kill a Mockingbird, it remains immensely respected and loved. Last month it won a New York Times poll of the greatest books of the past 125 years, with readers saying it had changed their lives and transformed how they viewed race.

Lee, who was white, died in 2016 at the age of 89. Her estate has been contacted for comment.

The Times