To Kill A Mockingbird Banned

Book banning is a type of censorship used to assert authority (“Book Banning”). Any book that goes against a certain communities values or contains mature content tends to get challenged. Book banning is also the most widespread form of censorship (Halpern). In the 1980s, To Kill a Mockingbird was a reading requirement in about seventy percent of public schools in the United States. But now, more than ever this novel is getting banned due its language and content (Halpern). Novels like Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird must not be banned because of its mature content, intense language, and ideals.

The intense language in To Kill a Mockingbird is historically accurate; thus it should not be shielded from young adults. The number of racial

This novel is mainly banned in Southern and Midwestern states due to the “region’s historic problem with racism” (Halpern). One instance in the book dealing with this idea is on page 202, when a mob arrives at Tom Robinson’s cell and a member says, “You know what we want...Get aside from the door, Mr.Finch” (Lee 202). The mob that has come to the cell came to lynch Tom Robinson. This would avoid any chance of Tom Robinson not getting convicted. This reveals the mob’s racist ideology. This novel shows the racist ideology of that time, and the laws inability to provide equal justice for all citizens (Halpern). It does this by convicting Tom Robinson even though there is overwhelming evidence proving his innocence (Lee 282). Even though the Southern part of the United States was not the only part dealing with racism during the 1900s, it is the most infamous. As a result, in the 1970s, To Kill a Mockingbird began to begin to get banned due to its racist portrayal of the South, a whole community. Banning this novel cannot change the past but it can change the future. It is important to use this novel to teach important issues, especially because it has always “elicited a poignant and strong emotional response… for its stirring portrayals of an era of racial inequality”

Many argue that schools should not teach To Kill a Mockingbird due to another reason: lying about rape. Many call this novel “immoral literature because the plot is centered around rape” (Selk). According to Alice Randall, this novel “...encourages boys and girls to believe women lie about being raped.” This could cause young adults to neglect many “Believe the Victim” movements occuring today (Randall). Many argue that these concepts are too complex for young adults to understand. This is because To Kill a Mockingbird is an “...adult fairytale, that is often read by children… in profound and damaging ways” (Randall). It may be true that the concepts in this book are tough to understand and that it may lead to a wrong conception of rape. But it is very unlikely to be the sole takeaway from such a complex novel. This novel deals with a multitude of social issues, including rape, racism, and abuse. Taking away only one of those concepts is