tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507989191081227379.post7837668251484349177..comments2023-11-03T05:03:49.495-07:00Comments on The Town Scryer: On Huck Finn and "The N Word"jaundicedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05926758323747555666noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507989191081227379.post-36115938619118914532011-01-05T10:16:35.978-08:002011-01-05T10:16:35.978-08:00Interesting that you should post this. I've be...Interesting that you should post this. I've been thinking about this a lot recently (You might have seen my post that I read Tom Sawyer last weekend.) I'm now reading Huck Finn.<br /><br />I realized I'd never read either of these books as a young person. I then realized that it was the late sixties when I was at the right age and people were beginning to understand the impact of racist and sexist language.<br /><br />I was part of a GATE program in 6th grade. They pulled us out of regular class to introduce us to great books...most of them Caldecott and Newberry Award winners. Neither of my folks read books and I'll fell in love with language and reading. It was a wonderful gift to me.<br /><br />We never read Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn with the class.<br /><br />We did do something else though. Every other week the GATE program spent the time traching us about Black History. I learned who Frederick Douglas, Sojourner Truth, Harriett Tubman, Langston Hughes, and lots of other great people were and their contributions. I've got to say, I think the school made the right choice in having the Black History class. And that small thing (and probably not small for it's time) made a big difference in who I became.<br /><br />In reading these books recently, I've been thinking about that solution of taking out the n word and other racist language. They hardly seem appropriate given what we've learned since Clemens' time.<br /><br />On the other hand, introducing the material as is and having an opportunity to talk about and challenge the racism it came out of is a "learning moment" as they say. Still, it will often be read without that much needed conversation.<br /><br />I feel very unsettled about it, but maybe we have to hope that children (as it will mostly be children who read it) will have the critical thinking necessary to question the usage of the n word and its inherent racism.<br /><br />And, if we start censoring books there it is a dangerous and slippery slope to other things. A Forward talking about the racist language in the book in a way that young people would understand would be a better solution I think.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507989191081227379.post-83468928187550826242011-01-05T03:14:11.072-08:002011-01-05T03:14:11.072-08:00A couple of years ago, I got a copy of "Lair ...A couple of years ago, I got a copy of "Lair of the White Worm" that I found had been "sanitized." Sort of. It had been butchered. The 'N' word was replaced by other terms (African being the most popular), but only when the 'good guys' said it. When it was the bad guys, the 'N' word remained.<br /><br />That said, Samuel Clemens used the word he did not to depict a slave. He did it to point out emphatically the fact that white people do not see black people as being human. He was pointing out how we dehumanized a portion of the population. I think that still stands. I think that we don't need to censor this book -- or any other. We need to teach it as it is and for what it is. Of course, that would be more work, and people these days are all about how little they have to do to get by.DawnGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03535325976568077018noreply@blogger.com