[Dark Skies]

bump for later

[Robert A Cook PE]

That's one reason "why" it is required reading(by liberal edicators) in all areas of the country.

[Andy from Beaverton]

They've been trying to remove 'Huck Finn' for years.

[HangnJudge]

I think that Southerners as a class are
quite capable of recognizing the foibles
of their own society and accepting both the
sinner and the redemption

[Old Professer]

Shame was the skin that was shed in the convulsive 60s.

That's when it was proved that the individual was made for self-gratification and group think was transferred to the government and its minions.

All that's left of social symbiosis are the selfish parasites onboard the struggling host.

[cowboyway]

I've never read it.

[ventana]

This is the sort of tripe which falls into the category of reading for social indoctrination. Forget the fabulous literary pantheon of the west, and truly honing critical reasoning skills because of an introduction to grammar, rhetoric, and logic. Today's indoctrinators want to mold young skulls of mush with the same shopworn literary drivel they've been promoting for years: Of Mice and Men; Fahrenheit 451; To Kill a Mockingbird. Not that the books in and of themselves are bad, just that they bespeak a larger agenda, and are offered at the expense of a survey of literature which might actually serve to hone the reasoning skills of the students, instead of spoon feeding them social think. V's wife.

[Stretch]

Stretch here... The Old Geezer.

By "Churchill Buff", I hope you mean "Winston"

Yep.... Many of southerners read the book, and saw the movie many times.... Have it on tape and now on CD... A great movie. gentleman's Agreement" is another. I remember "Jews not allowed here" posted just as "Blacks not allowed inside". I remember also, Lester Maddox and his baseball bats, and because of that I would not go to his restaurant, "The Pickrick" because of his stance of segregation which was prevalent in those days.

HOWEVER, tHERE IS A NEW SOUTH NOW... A CONSERVATIVE SOUTH.
TRULY "GOD'S COUNTRY"

[NutCrackerBoy]

It's a great movie with real heroes that genuinely makes you cry. It's not perfect, but it should not be judged harshly on the basis of the ridiculously PC world we now live in.

[HairOfTheDog]

It slams the good ole (white) boy thinking and discrimination that was very real at the time.

It's anti racist... Shouldn't racism be slammed?

[Clemenza]

The book is WAY less "anti-southern" than the STUPID movie.

READ THE BOOK! READ THE BOOK! READ THE BOOK! SKIP THE MOVIE!

[ecurbh]

this story is a slam on the South.

I disagree. It is anti-racism, not anti-South. I agree, it may be somewhat simplistic in its gentle, noble view of the black community. However, it does focus on a very real problem of the era, and the courage it often takes to stand up for what you believe is right.

And it's one of my all-time favorite movies.

[Clemenza]

I think you should read "A Cry of Absense" by Madison Jones. A more realistic portrayal of race relations in the mid-1960s. NOBODY emerges unscathed.

[groanup]

I read it when I was a kid. Also saw the movie when it first came out. I thought it was great.

I found an old copy about a year ago and got about half way through it. It was boring so I picked up a John Grisham.

[PAR35]

I didn't read it in school, but I did get around to reading it about 10 years ago. I didn't consider it anti - South. Anyone who grew up in the pre-1960s South should recognize that the themes of the book were not unrealistic.

[ohCompGk]

My question is why would you assume it was a slam only to the south?

I bet you didn't know that in it's heyday (1920's) the KKK's largest membership state was Ohio. Did you know that the majority of blacks that migrated north after the Civil War did so because of economic reasons rather than social?

Because some percentage of the north didn't believe in slavery doesn't mean those same people believed in equality.

My grandpa was a Brethren in Amish country Indiana and used the "N word" to describe blacks (not disparagingly, just matter-of-factly) and had a copy of 'Little Black Sambo' for all the grandchildren to read. I have no doubt he would have chosen to defend the accused man like... what was the character's name?... did and would have encountered the same treatment for doing so.

The fact is that 'To Kill a Mockingbird' could have been set in almost any small town in America at the time, not just in the south.

[annyokie]

My 15 YO read it this year in English class. The book is more nuanced than the film.

[Phsstpok]

To Kill A Mockingbird is an accurate portrayal of Southern life, according to my father, who grew up in central Mississippi.

He always said that Aticus Finch reminded him of his own father and how he acted while Sheriff of their county. My grandfather only served one term because he was a soft touch and was losing his shirt by helping out folks, whites, blacks and indians, who were down on their luck (it was the Depression) and because he had no patience with the Klan.

I now live in Memphis, but I grew up in New York and have lived in or visited almost all of the states. The most bigoted location I've ever lived in was Boston in the early 70s. The racial hatred and violence in the Southie section of that city during the busing years was incredible. What was more incredible was that those same folks would see To Kill A Mockingbird and condemn "those Southerners" and claim that they were for civil rights, just not in their schools or their neighborhoods.

[SouthernFreebird]

I've never read it.
The South has had her warts, we can accept that and yet still have the love of Dixie. I feel no shame for our growing pains.

[annyokie]

Literary ping