About

To Kill A Mocking Bird N-word Passage / Page 174 refers to a section of the classic 1960 novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee in which various characters say "n*gger". The novel, which tackles the subject of racial inequality, is widely read in American high schools. Online, teens began discussing the awkward situation of having to read the book aloud in class through memes on Twitter and Reddit.

Origin

In 1960, Harper Lee published the book To Kill a Mockingbird and since its release, there have been numerous parent complaints about the book's language and use of the n-word.^[4] On January 10th, 2019, Redditor El_Papa_Jackal posted the first meme on the subject sharing an image of Thanos to r/Teenagers^[1] with the caption, "Reading To kill a mocking Bird in class and the N word is in your paragraph to read" (shown below). The post gained over 1,000 points (99% upvoted) in a year.

Spread

On February 13th, 2019, Redditor roblox-game-theory posted a meme to r/PrequelMemes^[2] about getting detention for reading a passage from the book aloud (shown below). The post received over 340 points (85% upvoted) in a year.

On June 3rd, 2019, Twitter user @Kemdizzzle posted a reaction clip to the caption, "when ur reading to kill a mockingbird in class and the teacher makes you read the part where scout says the n word" (shown below). The tweet garnered over 1,400 likes and 340 retweets in a year.

On May 16th, 2020, Twitter user @doo_diggy^[3] was the first to mention page 74 in particular. Page 174 is set in the courtroom where many characters say the word n*gger. On May 20th, Twitter user @minecraftkid702 posted a clip of staring Wii characters with the caption, "The class while you read page 174 of to kill a mockingbird" (shown below). The tweet accumulated over 400 likes in two days. Distractify^[5] and HITC^[6] published articles about the specific passage in memes.

Various Examples

when you’re in English class reading To Kill a Mockingbird and your white teacher says the nword with no hesitation pic.twitter.com/WUFyinmiof

— roxanne 🎯 (@w0w0kthx) June 8, 2019

The class when the teacher chose you to read page 174 on To kill a mocking bird: pic.twitter.com/9FdXX03S6g

— sota 🇩🇴 (@heroinsota) May 20, 2020

Search Interest

External References