To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic. The well-known book, a staple of high school reading curricula across the country for decades, tells the story of Southern lawyer Atticus Finch and his unsuccessful, yet noble, attempt to overcome the pervasive racism of the Jim Crow South. Harper Lee’s moving book was just voted America’s best-loved novel in the PBS “The Great American Read” survey. Yet apparently this wasn’t enough to overcome concerns about political correctness for one Wisconsin high school.
Shorewood High School in suburban Milwaukee recently canceled a theater production of To Kill a Mockingbird because of concerns about its portrayal of racism.
Just a few years ago, this was the sort of story that liberals loved. It highlighted the ugly, racist past of the United States and lent credence to the concept that African-Americans do not get a fair shake in this nation. By no stretch of the imagination does this novel paint racism in a positive light.
But a younger generation, often unprepared to encounter “harmful” viewpoints, appears to have found fault with this classic story. Instead of having the opportunity to view the play, students and their parents participated in a community discussion in which those opposed to the play voiced their grievances. Controversy appears to center on the use of a racial slur in the text, in which Atticus is referred to as a “’N-word’ lover.” But in the context of the story, the racists hurtling slurs aren’t the heroes. The word isn’t celebrated. In fact, the use of the word and the behavior of some of the citizens of Maycomb is intended to be harsh, painful, and shocking precisely because it accurately represents the Jim Crow period in Southern states.
But more than anything else, this absurd drama at Shorewood High School highlights the need for more students and families to have educational options. Even more than improving test scores and graduation rates, school choice is about providing families with the opportunity to break away from the politically correct agenda that has come to dominate public education. They could leave Shorewood for a religious school, which circumvents the ban on bringing morality and religiosity into the public school classroom, or for a school that offers a curriculum not based on the concepts of Common Core, the teaching methods of which drew the ire of millions of parents around the country. And they can choose a school where exposure to different and antiquated ideas is viewed less as time to seek out a safe space than as a welcome opportunity to challenge these ideas and validate their place in the dustbin of history.
It is unlikely that the dominant culture of political correctness in our public schools will change any time soon. Such values are too deeply embedded in the teaching profession, which research suggests is among the most left-leaning jobs in America. Under a system of school choice, those families that are satisfied with an education insulated from all controversy can select it for their children. But school choice offers families a way out for those who want something else.
Perhaps it is only through school choice that another generation of Americans can have the chance to love To Kill a Mockingbird.
Will Flanders (@WillFlandersWI) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner‘s Beltway Confidential blog. He is the research director for the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.
