To Kill a Mockingbird a manual of social justice

Re Latest anti-To Kill A Mockingbird campaign rings as hollow as the rest, DiManno, Oct. 21

I’m so tired of this. When will people realize that this book goes far beyond racism? The story is not solely about racism, but of all the prejudices and biases we hold against each other.

As a teen reading this novel, it opened my eyes to the small biases we held toward our friends, the elderly and, at that time in the ’80s, unpopular kids and “gays.” For me, it reinforced what my own father and grandfather instilled in me: “You’ll never know a person until you walk a mile in their shoes.”

As an educator, I continue to fight to teach this novel in my Grade 9 English class. Remember, the goal is to inspire and stimulate critical thinking while making a personal impact on the students.

It is not about memorizing content and glorifying white supremacy. It’s about teaching character and empathy, and looking at the progress we have made as a society. Atticus would be proud.

This novel was meant to make us uncomfortable, to think and, most of all, build character. Every character fights a battle of prejudice that still holds true — from parenting skills, ageism, addiction, gender roles and inequality.

This novel is a manual of social justice, taking action and building character. Can we please go beyond the racism and see that we are creating a society of avoidance that is afraid to face and discuss these issues? In a world where social media is king and reading is seen as uncool, we should be encouraging people to read stimulating books rather than banning them. Adele Pantusa, Richmond Hill