New Edition of Huckleberry Finn to Have All the Bad Words Removed

[Kittylady]

Twain would probably agree.

"The book is an anti-racist book and to change the language changes the power of the book," said Cindy Lovell, executive director of The Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, Missouri.
"He wrote to make us squirm and to poke us with a sharp stick. That was the purpose," she told Reuters news agency.



BBC News - Furore over 'censored' edition of Huckleberry Finn

Thanks for the link. But really I'd like to amend what I wrote. I would rather a student read about the black experience of racism from a black writer. So Harper Lee would probably not be something I'd choose either.

Then how about we have them read The Colour Purple by Alice Walker? Oh, no, wait... They can't because that book has also been regularly featured on the list of the most challenged books in the educational system.

How about we stop dancing around the whole "oh but it might make someone uncomfortable!" school of thought and do something that is invaluable in education and personal development and tackle issues and subjects that challenge perceptions and make us face up to, investigate and if not overcome at least come to some form of understanding of things that make us uncomfortable. Education SHOULD be challenging on a personal level as well as an intellectual one.

[chartreuse]

Twain would probably agree.

Twain would slap you upside the head.

[rockchick]

i'm pretty much seething over this! science forbid people are actually made to feel uncomfortable about how very fucked up racism actually was at that time in history! the ramifications of this could be big; this could be the version of huck finn that my kids read in school. how can we pretend it wasn't like this...just another way to whitewash american history. fuck that!

ITA. You read my mind.

[bold and beautiful]

oh for fuck's sake!! why can't teachers just teach children that what was once an acceptable word no longer is? that's what my teachers did when we read kipling in school. fuuuuuuck, as if children weren't stupid enough as it is.

Well parents act like its ok to go around and say fuck all the time so why not nigger?For criptes sake whats next?Frankley my dear I don't give a darn instead of damn?

[Beeyotch]

I would. I think more kids these days (black, white and otherwise) should read Huck Finn. I would rather my black son have to read and consider the way Jim is treated and why he's called a nigger than to hear the word tossed around without meaning on a 50 Cent album.

That you say you don't care about what is reality or not is exactly the point: "Who cares what's real, what's history? It makes me uncomfortable so get it away!" I think a shit ton more of our kids need to be confronted with the uncomfortable truths about the world than spoon-fed PC bullshit. Let's talk about why Jim was called nigger and while we're at it, let's talk about why MLK Jr. was called that, too. Let's talk to our kids about why black men were lynched and why Jews were called the devil and why Harvey Milk was called a faggot. Let's fucking TEACH our kids about history so they know how far we've come and don't make the same mistakes.

I know I'm way late to this party but FUCK YES! to this comment. It's the best way to really learn this kind of lesson. People need to know.

i smell rotten fruit.

I smell bullshit

Either way, I just smell a moron. Yeah just turn away from a teachable opportunity and read another, nicer, more flowery and less offensive book about racism.

[NVash]

Slave Jim doesnt even sound right.

gristledonna, I want to say one thing. When I was in high school, sophomore year, we had to read 'To Kill A Mockingbird'. Of course everyone sighed and grunted, cussed under our breaths, the usual routine. We figured itd be another boring book just like all the others. We were wrong. A few chapters in, however, we were singing a different tune. We loved that book and sadly the teacher made us stop before we were finished to read some other book. Why, I dont recall. What the title of the new book was, I also dont recall. I just remember that and the fact that everyone was mad that the teacher made us stop reading a book. Usually its the other way around, the teacher stops and people cheer. So this was 10th grade. I think we couldve handled Mark Twain.

Here, why dont we also take 'The Crucible' out of reading lists because John Proctor yelled 'I say God is dead!' Some Christians or other religions might be offended.

And no, I dont recall anyone being offended.

[gristledonna]

Slave Jim doesnt even sound right.

gristledonna, I want to say one thing. When I was in high school, sophomore year, we had to read 'To Kill A Mockingbird'. Of course everyone sighed and grunted, cussed under our breaths, the usual routine. We figured itd be another boring book just like all the others. We were wrong. A few chapters in, however, we were singing a different tune. We loved that book and sadly the teacher made us stop before we were finished to read some other book. Why, I dont recall. What the title of the new book was, I also dont recall. I just remember that and the fact that everyone was mad that the teacher made us stop reading a book. Usually its the other way around, the teacher stops and people cheer. So this was 10th grade. I think we couldve handled Mark Twain.

Here, why dont we also take 'The Crucible' out of reading lists because John Proctor yelled 'I say God is dead!' Some Christians or other religions might be offended.

And no, I dont recall anyone being offended.

The fact that you engaged with the book is honestly the most important thing to an educator. It is very hard to find a book that actually is of interest to the students in the classroom. Those that argue otherwise are probably not educators. It is difficult in this day and age to push for an appreciation of older books. Most schools will do a classic and also a newer book to keep interest. This is because the goal of an educator is to encourage students to become readers for life. The worst thing you can do in this effort is to choose a book that is deemed boring or uninteresting to the reader.

It's funny because I don't think most people have actually read the OP's reasons for wanting to do this. The reason he wanted to do it is that he thinks the book is a great book for engaging the reader. However his daughter was put off by the language. So he thought, well maybe I'll try to find a way to make it more accessible to the students because it is a great book.

But of course it is easier for people to have uninformed kneejerk reactions and say he's doing it because he's upset by the word. Um no he's not. He just noticed that as a working educator that it put off a lot of students and tried to find a way to get around that.

That bastard. That enemy of Twain, that insecure idiot. Pick your title. it's really a joke how many people who are so up in arms about the right to read, didn't even bother reading the man's statement.

[shedevilang]

He is still basically rewriting a book because someone took offense at the language, it is still fucking idiotic. I'm pretty sure we can all read and that we read the man's statement WE STILL FUCKING DISAGREE WITH HIM. Just because you think as "an educator" that it's all hunky dory to do this doesn't matter, as a Mother I demand that the educator's of my children actually teach them something worthwhile and here's a clue changing words in classic literature isn't the way I want it done.

[NVash]

Im inclined to agree with that. I dont care whether or not the girl got offended. Why is she so different from everyone else? Is it a race thing? What color is she? Why didnt he just tell her to get over it and explain it to her instead of just trying to turn everything around for her?

Another problem is that this could end up being a slippery slope. It was already mentioned that maybe they should change the name of 'Moby Dick' to something less offensive. Next thing you know theyll take 'Dick Tracy' and use his real name of Richard and itll keep going on.

[Pojo]

it just reminds of all these watered down Grimm's fairy tales children are read. The original stories were darker, terrifying, shit to feed your nightmares.

[gristledonna]

I love Grimms fairy tales. Now you're going to make me run and try to find the darker versions online!

NVash i think the slippery slope part is what keeps me completely against it even though I understand why he wants to do it.

[Grimmlok]

I don't give a flying fuck if some cow got offended. Get the fuck over yourself and read the fucking book and learn something.

PUT THE FUCKING THING IN CONTEXT.

People applauding this censorship are the lowest dregs and have probably never managed to accomplish one creative thing in their entire lives.

Wah, someone's feelings were bruised. By all means, let's just cover up everything so little miss pisspanties can get through her day without a suicide attempt because SHE'S SUCH A SPECIAL FUCKING SNOWFLAKE

[SHELLEE]

I can't believe that they changed the name of the Jewfish to the Goliath Grouper. Where will it end?

[Kittylady]

It is very hard to find a book that actually is of interest to the students in the classroom.

If we only cover books that the students are interested in then (once again) we are narrowing the educational potential that they are exposed to. Furthermore a good teacher can inspire interest. I remember reading Wuthering Heights as a teenager and I didn't enjoy it one bit. I struggled to finish it (although finish it I did) and let out a groan of dismay when I later found that I would be covering it in a literature class I was taking at college. However in the hands of our tutor I was shocked to find that I not only enjoyed covering and deconstructing it but was able to take enough interest in it to write an essay on it without it being a chore.

it just reminds of all these watered down Grimm's fairy tales children are read. The original stories were darker, terrifying, shit to feed your nightmares.

Many kids love a good scare just as much as the rest of us - I know I certainly did and would always prefer a story with a few frights thrown in than something sickly about a fairytale princess. I would have definately preferred to have the original Grimm's fairytales to the wishy-washy, sanitised versions that are more common now.

[witchcurlgirl]

If this thread is any indication of the thinking of a typical American 'educator' then I think we have finally answered the question Why can't Johnny read?