The Role Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

No matter what race you are, you can still take away 3 major themes from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. They are social inequality, perspective, and racism. Social inequality is something that was very pronounced in the 1930’s. Everyone has their own view, or perspective, on each story, but sometimes their view can be biased and altered. Racism is something that our country has struggled with in the past and continues to struggle with today. I don’t think that the NAACP should ban the book To Kill a Mockingbird because it’s important for us to know our history.
Throughout the book, Atticus encourages his kids, specifically Scout, to step into other people's shoes and see things from their perspective, saying, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”’ (Lee 39). When Mrs. Dubose, the old lady who lives down the street, yells insults at the kids about their father as they walk by, Jem returns with Scout’s baton and destroys all of her flowers. As a punishment, Jem has to go to Mrs. Dubose’s house every day and read to her. Scout decides she wants to go along too, so everyday after school Jem and Scout go over to Mrs. Dubose’s house so Jem can read Ivanhoe to her.
I do see how the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) declared To Kill a Mockingbird “unfit” for junior high use because of the content. I don’t thinks it’s exactly what every 11-year-old should be reading, but that doesn’t mean it should be banned from high schools. As for the book being trashy, this book is a very well put together writing that is