Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
A school district in Mississippi has banned the classic To Kill a Mockingbird, because it makes students “uncomfortable.” In the novel, a black man in the 1930s Deep South is falsely accused of and convicted of raping a white woman.
Former Vanderbilt University professor Carol Swain believes the novel should remain a part of the curriculum. Teaching history and classic works of literature “are supposed to make people uncomfortable,” she said. In fact, the book helped ignite the 1960s civil rights movement.
A lot of young people are offended or “uncomfortable” by most anything now days. It’s like there is a rush to be the first one offended in hope of getting a TV or radio interview. There is sadly no rush to even try to understand history first. I will say the use of the word ignorance here is very appropriate. Sharing this on my blog.
That novel (and the movie) made me uncomfortable too – as it was meant to! None of us should have felt comfortable with the way things were at that period. Seems to me that students reading it today should be happy and grateful at how much has changed since then.