To Kill a Mockingbird

People are getting wound up again over the seminal novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

School board in Ontario takes new approach to teaching ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’:

No doubt the book, one of my favorites, touches some raw nerves with its subject matter and language.  After searching many sites looking for a reasonable discussion. I found this statement in the above linked article.

Chinese-Canadian writer Wayson Choy says he agrees that “To Kill a Mockingbird” should be taught with a more critical approach and in context, since racism is discussed differently today than it was more than 50 years ago.

This I think fair enough, not a bad point for consideration of all books being studied. Books should be broken down and taught with an eye on its relationships to current culture as well as the quality of its construction. Literature should be taught with the intent of teaching students to write well.

I have read the sequel Go Set a Watchman released shortly before Harper Lee's death, and if any person suggests that this woman was a racist, they are revealing their ignorance.
If you did not know it, Harper Lee was an childhood friend and research assistant for Truman Capote.