Stephen King once said, “Books are a uniquely portable magic.” Reading has numerous benefits, from improving your children’s grades to acting as a way of escapism on a rainy day.
However, some people don’t appreciate reading as much as others. In the past, many countries banned certain books, including some classics that we will all remember reading during our younger years.
In the past, tonnes of children’s books were banned, from Alice in Wonderland to Harry Potter; and from Where’s Waldo? to Black Beauty.
Banning books was extremely common during in the 20th century. It isn’t a common occurrence these days, but one school in the United States has changed that.
A junior high school in Mississippi has banned Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird from its reading list.
The award-winning novel was removed from the eighth-grade reading list in The Biloxi School District.
According to The Sun Herald, the school admitted that the reading material made numerous people feel too uncomfortable.
Vice President of the Biloxi School Board stated, “It’s still in our library. But they’re going to use another book in the 8th-grade course.”
People were furious to hear that the book was taken off the curriculum, mid-lesson plan, “The students will not be allowed to finish the reading of To Kill A Mockingbird .... due to the use of the ‘N’ word.”
To Kill A Mockingbird is one of the most common books to be banned across the world; this is mainly due to the late Harper Lee’s use of racial slurs throughout the novel.
Many people would consider the book to be a literary classic, so it will come as no surprise to hear that people were furious to hear about the school’s controversial decision.
People expressed their fury about the high school's choice on Twitter.
To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the best and most relevant books in the literary canon. Schools always censor/ban the most important books.
— K. (@okaykeeks) October 14, 2017
To Kill A Mockingbird is being banned from schools for making people uncomfortable. Algebra made me uncomfortable, but they didn't ban that!
— NUFF (@nuffsaidNY) October 14, 2017
To Kill A Mockingbird was one of the most important books I read as a kid and to ban it is to turn a blind eye to racism
— brandon (@AwwRivs) October 14, 2017
The gothic novel is set in a quiet southern town in America during the 1930s. It is set during the Great Depression, and features strong themes such as the importance of being a moral person, social inequality, and racism.
It was published in 1960, and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. The novel was adapted for film in 1962, and won numerous Oscars, including Best Picture, in 1963.
The story and the characters are roughly based on Harper Lee’s views on an event that occurred close to her hometown in Alabama when she was a young girl.
Do you agree with the school’s decision?
