Virginia School Considers Banning Two Classic American Books

[c.d.]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/why-a-virginia-school-considers-banning-two-american-classics/ar-AAl6p9B?li=BBnbfcL

c.d.

[Ginger]

Honestly, if an educator can't see the point the of "Huck Finn" without having it sugar-coated and spoonfed to them, then they really aren't qualified to be teaching literature.

[c.d.]

I can see people being sensitive to the language in the book but the reality is that that is how people spoke in those days. And the whole point of the book is that Huck overcame his own prejudices to eventually see Jim as a person just like himself. This whitewashing of history that is so prevalent nowadays (along with believing that every wrong ever committed can be addressed and made up for) is just foolish.

c.d.

[GUT]

Buck Finn, OMG what next.

[Pcdunn]

Buck Finn, OMG what next.

Actually, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was frequently banned by public librarians, almost from the day it was originally published in the late 19th century. Objections then were that the book contained drinking, swearing, petty thieving, violence and murder, lying, and various other objectionable behaviors for young people. Twain had not particularly written Huck Finn to be read by young people, and most scholars agree it is one of the best American novels in our literature.

[louisa]

Those two books are part of history.

You can't re-write history.

Those books should remain as they are, for those who wish to see a slice of life as it was back then.
.

[Harry D]

Society's finished.

[Robert]

So Jody Greene is a literature professor, and is capable of producing garbage like : "We need to provide resources and support for teachers to know how to curate difficult conversations."

The mind can only boggle.

[Magpie]

I seem to remember the Twain Society issuing a new edition of Huck Finn a couple of years ago with the offending world removed, and there was a massive (justifiable) backlash against them.

[Steadmund Brand]

If we really want to ban books for students can't we start with Twilight????
Just kidding......this is just another example of modern society trying to hard to "protect" people from the real world....as a life long liberal I am ashamed at how far this has gone (or trying to go).....yes Twain was "re-written" to remove one word and replace it with another (far more offensive word in my opinion, and in the opinion of MANY African Americans as well.....)and it failed.....these are over zealous folks who luckily so far have been struck down by reason....we can only hope it happens again, if not, this is that "slippery slope" people have been fearing...

Steadmund Brand

[Abby Normal]

PC run amok

[louisa]

Society's finished.

We're all doomed.
.

[Pcdunn]

I seem to remember the Twain Society issuing a new edition of Huck Finn a couple of years ago with the offending world removed, and there was a massive (justifiable) backlash against them.

Found this, dated January 2011:

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2011/01/04/132652272/new-edition-of-huckleberry-finn-will-eliminate-offensive-words

They changed the so-called "N-word" to "slave".
But they were aiming to produce a version for grade schools, remember.

My first version of "Huck Finn" was an "abridged" version, published in a series of "Children's Classics", if I recall. Many such versions, for varying age levels have been published, and will likely continue to be published.

I was probably in college before I read the original edition. I thought it was terrific.

[Karl]

If the pro-censorship people are afraid that the word "n!gger" might get normalised, I actually think that's an excellent argument against censorship. Good: it should be normalised. The only reason it is such a dirty word is precisely because it is taboo. Remove the taboo and it loses its power. Keep the taboo, and you'll also keep the impact with which it lands every time it is used as an insult. It is ridiculous that this particular word, out of all the naughty words, should have become the worst thing a person - correction, a non-black person can say in any context.

[Steadmund Brand]

If the pro-censorship people are afraid that the word "n!gger" might get normalised, I actually think that's an excellent argument against censorship. Good: it should be normalised. The only reason it is such a dirty word is precisely because it is taboo. Remove the taboo and it loses its power. Keep the taboo, and you'll also keep the impact with which it lands every time it is used as an insult. It is ridiculous that this particular word, out of all the naughty words, should have become the worst thing a person - correction, a non-black person can say in any context.

Funny....Lenny Bruce said almost the exact same thing in the 1960's...about the same word

Steadmund Brand