Censoring Huck Finn - Have you seen this???

[Brilliant]

But not, I assume, by a majority of the people on a casual basis. I never denied that it is used, perhaps in some areas even frequently.

 

My issue is the trashing of a town with the following "I'd hate to be in a class here in Texas, my town especially, .... Here a majority of people use the N word casually. Racism is alive and thriving in Brenham, TX."

 

Texan after Texan has posted here saying that this does not match their experience in the state. Unless Brenham is some sort of Brigadoon I can not see a majority of people using that term in a casual (ie open and public) manner.

 

I'm a former Texan, and I can attest that some towns are like this. James Byrd Jr was horrifically murdered in Jasper, TX, only 12 years ago. My grandparents lived there when it happened (they have since passed away, so it's been about 6 years since I've been there). My other grandparents' hometown of Port Arthur had really bad race relations also.

 

BTW, I don't think the book should be censored. But I'm surprised that other posters don't take Dot's statements about her hometown at face value. I believe her. :(

[Murphy101]

I'm a former Texan, and I can attest that some towns are like this. James Byrd Jr was horrifically murdered in Jasper, TX, only 12 years ago. My grandparents lived there when it happened (they have since passed away, so it's been about 6 years since I've been there). My other grandparents' hometown of Port Arthur had really bad race relations also.

 

BTW, I don't think the book should be censored. But I'm surprised that other posters don't take Dot's statements about her hometown at face value. I believe her. :(

 

Not one person has denied racism exists. Or even that some people use the n word too freely.

 

The sticker is the term "majority". Just because the guy was killed does not mean the majority of citizens are constant n word using murderous racist. There are plenty of cities that have race murders every year and it still doesn't mean the majority of people use the n word all the time in public.

 

Again the sticker is not whether the n word is ever used casually on a regular basis by some people. It's whether a MAJORITY do so.:)

[pdalley]

A publishing company is choosing to edit the word. No one is making them do so.

FTR, many of those who are uncomfortable with the word being used in Huck Finn also are against the use of that word in music and comedy as well.

 

I can also tell you that when you have been called that word in a hateful manner, that you can become more sensitive to its use around your children.

 

I'm plenty sensitive to its use around my kids - no matter how white we happen to be. I did not allow them to be around my father or his family or my husband's mother (he was with me on this) because they used that word freely. It is a term I find unacceptable. I've been called some pretty horrible names due to my parentage and the fact my parents didn't get married until after I was born. As a child it was a term used frequently around me in reference to my parentage. I know words hurt.

 

However, I do not see why I should applaud the decision to remove it from a period piece of literature when I can't seem to get away from its use in music, tv and movies to make money. At least in this book it illustrates how backward thinking society was back then. It serves a purpose. As the teacher on our news last night said about it (and she had been called that word as well - in addition to living through a time where she couldn't use the same bathroom as white people) 'We need to remember how it was and leave it alone. Otherwise we will forget.'

[Slartibartfast]

A publishing company is choosing to edit the word. No one is making them do so.

FTR, many of those who are uncomfortable with the word being used in Huck Finn also are against the use of that word in music and comedy as well.

 

I can also tell you that when you have been called that word in a hateful manner, that you can become more sensitive to its use around your children.

 

I have been called that word.

 

Also my dd has called us that word, in a jocular and friendly manner because she heard it when she went to public school. We did have to have a long discussion about it. That was when she was in kindergarten.

 

I am not ok with it being used around my children, in fact my dh told my FIL on no uncertain terms that it was unacceptable and they would not see her if it happened.

 

However I am opposed to editing the book. The book draws attention to racism, segregation, lynchings and the belief that black people were inferior all while using a stereotype and calling them an offensive term. It makes a powerful statement. To me the point is that it isn't just the eloquent, well groomed, black man in a suit who is equal, but that the stereotype, the ignorant person with the coarse language and dirty clothing is equal.

 

If you do not want your children exposed to the word then don't read the book. One cannot say they "read Huckelberry Finn" if the point is removed. You have white washed an important work of literature. Like a previous poster said, if you remove it then it is just a book about two guys on a raft.

 

It is contributing to censorship. Why not burn the book while they are at it?

 

Book burning is bad but making it "pretty" is somehow ok?

 

I am sure Mark Twain would have very uncomplimentary and vulgar things to say about that.

Edited January 6, 2011 by Sis

[mommaduck]

I have been called that word.

 

 

I also was called that word by my own stepfather who had legally adopted me. I wasn't "white enough".

[Mejane]

I've lived in the northeast most of my life, including spending plenty of time in NYC, and I've never heard the word said aloud in public. Now my fil... that's another story. :glare:

[Laurie4b]

I have no problem with it.

 

There are layers to any work of literature. We read easier versions of some classics when my kids were younger--their objective at that point was just to enjoy the story. Later, they could read the unabridged versions of something like Gulliver's Travels and get a whole new level out of it.

 

There are ages and circumstances for which reading the "n" word incessantly is only going to be hurtful. Twain's actual position re: racism, being more subtly expressed, is not going to be grasped in between all the n-words. So for those circumstances, It think it's absolutely fine--and in fact a good idea-- for offensive language to be replaced. For crying out loud, how important is it to read the n word 200 some times?

 

I consider racial offense to be much worse than a bunch of cuss words, but I think there is a time to edit and a time not to edit.

[Haiku]

I asked my dd16 about this, since she is basically the target audience for this edited version of the book (being a high school student). She is black and goes to a predominately black high school. (I am white, and we live in a medium-sized midwestern city.)

 

I asked her whether the kids at her school refer to each other as niggers. She looked shocked and said, "NO!" I asked her whether this was a term she hears used casually among black people. She said no. I asked her whether she thought this was an acceptable term for black people to call each other. She said no. I asked her whether this is a word she hears with any frequency. She said yes. When I asked her who she has heard use the word, she said that she hears it used by white kids at her school, by white people in stores she shops in, and by white people on the street when she and her friends are walking back and forth to the bus stop.

 

I asked her whether she would feel uncomfortable reading a book that liberally used the word nigger. She said she wouldn't feel uncomfortable, since it is "only a book," but that she would probably be distracted by the word being used a lot. I explained to her the historical context of Huck Finn and about the edited edition and asked her what she thought. Her words:

 

"If we had to read that book at my school with that word in it that many times, the kids would be really mad and not read it."

 

I know my dd's opinion is not the end-all, be-all opinion, but I tend to believe her that the kids wouldn't read the book if they kept encountering the word nigger, and therefore all the good intentions of putting the book in proper historical context would be lost.

 

Ftr, we read Huck Finn in school and I *don't* remember the word nigger being used what I would consider an extreme amount of times, but then again, I don't remember a whole lot about the book to begin with, so whatever my teacher was trying to teach me about the book didn't make much of an impression!! :(

 

Tara