Yes, and I'm saying where I grew up most people seemed to think it was outdated drivel. We live (where I live) are in a multicultural society with many immigrants living peacefully, and we found, from the people I know, TKaMB dry and mining lessons that have long been incorporated in our society.
I must respectfully disagree that it is outdated drivel. First, there are large pockets of racism still present throughout the US and the world at large. Even if you are fortunate enough to live in a place where it is simply not encountered, it will be encountered if you travel much.
Second, even if and when we reach a point in society where racism is truly gone, it is useful to know how we got there. To Kill a Mocking Bird not only helps show how society was before, it was itself a small piece of history that helped in a small way make society the way it is now with less racism.
Even if we reach a utopian day where its lessons are no longer relavent (and we are not there yet), it will remain a significant aid in understanding our history.
I just happen to think there are perhaps more important issues worth focussing on in schools such as materialism, environmentalism, the role of belief and science, what it means to be part of a society, the nature of democracy etc which are more timely and vital to introduce kids to.
Racism, in the first world other than the US, seems not dead but mortally wounded and we are ready to move on to the next problem to tackle.
I've traveled a fair bit across 6 continents and I don't think I've ever encountered a society that is simultaneously multi-cultural and without racism. I'm also a believer in the axiom that those who don't remember the past are doomed to repeat it.
I can't comment on the dryness of TKaMB though I would say that it does contain enough elements of typical human drama to be more than "a book about racism".
