How Did Harper Lee's Impact On Civil Rights

Harper Lee was the woman who caused people to talk about civil rights issues like no one of her time. Her novel To Kill a Mocking Bird is perhaps the most talked about book in schools and most famous racism book. Lee has made her novel a household name, an accomplishment that is slim to none when it comes to others accomplishing this feat as well. Selling “more than 40 million copies globally since it was published in 1960”, “continues to sell more than a million copies a year and has been translated into more than 40 languages” (Alter 1) certainly making it an extremely popular novel. When it comes to awards, her views with civil rights in the time that she published To Kill a Mockingbird, her still controversial work, and impact in society
This novel went against so many 'hush hush' things of that time. Seeing a crime on the street committed against an African American, no one would say anything about it knowing that they would not be able to change anything. Those who read the novel were to agree with the injustices in private and slowly change their own views with the help of Lee's working being able to understand that not everything is as black and white as it appears. Finally with the publication of this novel the ones who were not able to stand up for themselves, for fear of their own lives, were able to have their voices heard. Talking about civil rights might not have been something that got you liked back then, but Lee was ahead of her time not caring what happened to her but knowing that her story had to be told; everyone should see her as a role
In certain schools her novel is not seen as something that can be read in class because for some, language such as "damned" or for others the word "nigger" and others for things like “racial hatred, racial division, racial separation, and promotes white supremacy.” (qtd. in http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics/reasons 1) Simply the fact that her novel is not allowed to be read in some schools for fear of hurting someone's feelings or fear that some concepts may be too racy for school children then perhaps they should also not be allowed to watch the news or have social media where they will see or hearing the same, and probably worse things. Civil rights is not something that is brought up in schools often outside of maybe in history class where it can be covered but not in the same way that Lee's novel is able to express feeling and show that time period. Students should be able to learn about how society used to be and what there is still traces of today. To me I see her novel as something to learn from and not 'protect' our children from when in the real world they are not going to be protected from things like this. By learning about our history that is how we make it so that we do not doom ourselves to repeat it; if we want our children to think that hate and not having equality is okay then do not teach