The world loves glory. If it is not glorifying people as gods, then it is giving too much importance to a book that does not deserve it. No book is a bible, not even the bible. No book can save every person or be 100% true. For this reason, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is not a perfect book. Every person needs to realize that.
Harper Lee is a writer who has an importance that is undeserved. Her books show the redemption white characters get just for doing the bare minimum. The white savior trope was birthed in this book. Teaching the book that shows the deep flaws in racial justice will only drive the wedge further against the discriminated. Though it is banned now, the book has a great influence. It makes the idea of “saving” the discriminated a responsibility of the white male.
Even if the book is a great contribution to literature, the glorification of the writer in unnecessary. Her portrayal of the black community is shallow. Riddled with prejudices. Till the time we don’t realize that the book does nothing to racial justice, we cannot place the argument of art vs. artist. Harper Lee is as much in the book, as much as Scout and Atticus are. To Kill a Mocking Bird is a great book when you focus on the writing and not on the story but Harper Lee is not.
To say that at her time, this would have been considered progressive is okay. To justify her racism based on that argument is not. Times have changed so we need to let go. All schools need to ban the book and not simply remove it from the curriculum.