The sequel was the original book. TKAM is technically a prequel, or rather more technically a total re-write of Go Set a Watchman. The original was never supposed to be released either, and IIRC the circumstances of its release were kind of questionable.
You'd think that, with white people trying to find whatever reason they can to "reasonably" say the N word in the first place, they would love books like these.
No, we're not. It's a book explicitly dealing with racism and white supremacy in the South. The language is absolutely necessary in context.
Sick burn
They've been doing this for eons though. When schools were forced to integrate, many white parents pulled their kids from public schools and put them into private ones (and pretty quickly the GOP was very uninterested in funding public education.) Even today, taking Charlottesville VA as an example- only 40% of the white kids there are going to public school.
That's ok. Harper Lee is overrated.
Read Ernst Gaines' A Lesson Before Dying instead.
While this is true, the book will, over time, feel more and more anachronistic. This is inevitable and natural. I still think it's a good book to teach in 2017, whatever, but I can also see why the parents of a black kid may not want their children studying a book where the n-word features dozens of times, even if the book isn't exactly endorsing the slur. Also, while Harper Lee may have been progressive "for her time," the book is not without its problems or its own dated attitude.
There's a much better case against Huck Finn in this regard than To Kill A Mockingbird. It's older, less explicit about what it's doing, and isn't really something I'd consider essential reading.
The scrutiny is a pretense for this particular book.
Totally agree! I think To Kill a Mockingbird is still worth teaching, too. I just don't think it's a slam dunk case of anyone "censoring" anti-racist material.
I had the opposite reaction when I read Huckleberry Finn back in elementary school (recreationally, not as an assignment), it permanently turned me off of all censorship of slurs when reading books or historical text, to the point I would get irritated everytime I heard "n-word" whenever a teacher or student had to read something aloud, to this day.
Eh I like the idea of the sequel, because its a real thing that happens. The idea that your parent could very well end up being part of the wrong is sometimes unthinkable, especially when you know that as a good person who is charitable and generous. One could say it is a persons ultimate Milkshake Duck.
Sure, but do they need a white-savior novel written 60 years ago by a person born 90 years ago to teach their kids about pervasive racism and the injustices of our legal system? Sadly, no.
A simple Google search will demonstrate multiple examples where the book was banned out of political correctness by people who couldn't look past the n word, despite the book's message, not by right wingers who get uncomfortable with its message. It's not difficult.
