MONONA. WI (Wisconsin Radio Network) – The Monona Grove School Board has voted to keep “To Kill a Mockingbird” as part of the curriculum taught in the Dane County district’s schools.
The vote Wednesday followed a series of meetings held since late last year, when a family in the district asked to have it removed. The family that filed the complaint said the book creates a ‘white savior’ narrative where black characters are passive and exploited. The school board voted 6-1 in favor of keeping the book in the curriculum. Two other board members voted to make reading it optional. The vote confirmed a 4-1 committee vote from February that was appealed to the full school board.
The classic Harper Lee novel, which includes dozens of racial slurs, was published in 1960. It is part of the Freshman English reading list.
The plot involves the trial of a black man wrongly accused of raping and beating a white woman.
