Why ‘Uncomfortable’ Books Like ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Are Precisely the Ones Kids Should be Reading

submitted by SierraKiloBravo from (intellectualtakeout.org)

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[–]SierraKiloBravo[S] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Great article, I liked these bits in particular:

“If the language in To Kill a Mockingbird makes thirteen-year-olds “uncomfortable,” then I assume the school district is also insisting they stay off Twitter and never listen to rap music.”

“How are we supposed to learn from the past (and improve the present) if we’re ignoring significant pieces of history because it might make someone “uncomfortable?””

Another saying I’ve heard might be appropriate too: Prepare the child for the road, not the road for the child.

[–]send_nasty_stuff 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (11 children)

TKAM is liberal humanist propaganda. Dated propaganda but deceptive none the less.

TKAM supports the idea that the US is a country that has independent courts. Totally untrue. This country lost its courts.

Kids shouldn't be reading TKAM because it implies blacks are innocent victims and that whites are prone to blame innocent pure blacks for that crimes of white rednecks prone to bigotry. Reality couldn't be further from the truth.

[–]curryvirgin 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (8 children)

What is reality, then?

[–]send_nasty_stuff 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Nobody owns truth.

[–]curryvirgin 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

That's a great way to say nothing.

[–]send_nasty_stuff 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

No worse than 'what is reality'

[–]Only71Genders 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Black men raping tens of thousands of white women in the US every year, while white men rape less than ten black women every year.

[–]curryvirgin 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I'm not sure I believe you.

[–]Only71Genders 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Completely understandable. https://davidduke.com/the-racial-murder-and-rape-of-white-women-in-america/

[–]curryvirgin 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I'm not sure I believe David Duke.

[–]Only71Genders 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Do you have statistics that contradict his?

[–]blowininthewind 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

i'm not sure if its ending supports 'the idea that the US is a country that has independent courts'. in fact, i think it's quite the contrary that it's exposing. reading this as a kid made me realize there are injustices in the world and it's not always what it seems like. it's a tender novel in a first person perspective, through young harper's eyes. and many years later i still have trouble reading much more complex books that are more real like gravity's rainbow, so i think it's a pretty good start. honestly, it did not shift my ideology that much, if at all.

[–]send_nasty_stuff 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

subtle propaganda is the most powerful propaganda. Our children should not be subjected to subversion. The only messaging they should be getting is pro european and pro traditionalism, pro Christianity, pro hierarchy, and pro morality. Kids should read LOTR, the bible, Starship Troopers, Kurt Vonnegut, Jack London, Rudyard Kipling, Shakespeare, etc. They can read more propaganda stuff like Harry Potter, Twilight, John Green, and Oprah commie book club when they turn 18 or with their parents approve, not at school.