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The Civil Rights Movement

To Kill A Mockingbird and Civil Rights Drama

The following guest post is by Peter Kuryla, associate professor of history at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee The recent publication of Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman has generated some discussion over the depiction of Atticus Finch in its pages. Atticus appears in the book as a segregationist and a racist, troubling many fans of To Kill a Mockingbird, who have long seen him as a liberal hero. Given the emerging controversy, I thought readers of this blog might find some insights into the book/film and its historical context interesting. What follows are cut and pasted sections from a Read more