‘Whitewashing’ of literary classics paints controversy
Publisher to release versions of 'Huck Finn' and 'Tom Sawyer' without the N-word, prompting strong but mixed reaction
From staff and wire reports
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Some parents and students have called for the removal of Huck Finn from reading lists for more than a half-century.
The internet is abuzz with reaction to a publisher’s controversial decision to replace the N-word with “slave” in Mark Twain’s classic novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in an effort not to offend readers.
Black educators and scholars are sharply divided over the decision, according to a Jan. 10 report from BlackVoiceNews.com. A sampling of the hundreds of tweets and re-tweets that were posted in the days following the announcement, meanwhile, revealed many criticisms of the move.
Twain scholar Alan Gribben, who is working with NewSouth Books in Alabama to publish a combined volume of the books, said the N-word appears 219 times in Huck Finn and four times in Tom Sawyer. He said the word puts the books in danger of joining the list of literary classics that Twain once humorously defined as those “which people praise and don’t read.”
“It’s such a shame that one word should be a barrier between a marvelous reading experience and a lot of readers,” Gribben said.
According to BlackVoiceNews.com, Syracuse University professor and cultural commentator Boyce Watkins agrees. Watkins said he believes removing the N-word makes the text more palatable for today’s school children and therefore more useful in modern classrooms, the website reported.
“The fundamental question I would ask is, ‘Can you still make the point of this brilliant novel without using this word 219 times?’ I think that you can,” Watkins is quoted as saying.
Others liken the decision to a “whitewashing” of American cultural and literary history.
“I think this is problematic on so many levels,” Micahela Angela Davis, a former editor at Essence magazine and social commentator, reportedly told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “When we get into really censoring art and censoring literature, we open up a Pandora’s box. If a teacher is not prepared to have a social and historical conversation and place this masterpiece in context, is she prepared to teach that text? When we get into changing words, unwriting history, rearranging art, we start to put our democracy in danger.”
A sampling of responses on the micro-blogging website Twitter on Jan. 10 revealed hundreds of posts devoted to the topic.
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“Huck Finn noise is crazy,” tweeted user harrharrisonj. “People should be more afraid of their kids not reading than what they read.” Many other tweets noted that actress and comedienne Whoopie Goldberg said on The View: “You don’t have the right to change a classic.”
Even Twain himself was particular about his words. In an 1888 letter, he described the difference between the right word and the almost right one as “the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
The book isn’t scheduled to be published until February, at a mere 7,500 copies, but Gribben already has received a flood of hateful eMail accusing him of desecrating the novel. He said the eMails prove the word makes people uncomfortable.
theatrebob
January 11, 2011 at 1:24 pm
Do you think Mark Twain didn’t know it was offensive? There’s a reason he used the word and there’s a reason that the most noble character in the book is Jim.
theatrebob
January 11, 2011 at 1:24 pm
Do you think Mark Twain didn’t know it was offensive? There’s a reason he used the word and there’s a reason that the most noble character in the book is Jim.
wallace
January 11, 2011 at 1:47 pm
As an educator for 12 years, I find it terrifying that history is being changed. These novels a rich in the history of our country and world. These words that are seemingly harsh or are deemed as not being considerate of others are not the issue. If all educators could speak to the text and actually teach what it is saying versus the sign of the times definition then more understanding would come forth. What a disservice we are promoting. Why are we denying the learners of our country and world the truth? Maybe the people making the decisions about such books and text books available in our schools and libraries need to take a step back and consider the harm they are doing.
wallace
January 11, 2011 at 1:47 pm
As an educator for 12 years, I find it terrifying that history is being changed. These novels a rich in the history of our country and world. These words that are seemingly harsh or are deemed as not being considerate of others are not the issue. If all educators could speak to the text and actually teach what it is saying versus the sign of the times definition then more understanding would come forth. What a disservice we are promoting. Why are we denying the learners of our country and world the truth? Maybe the people making the decisions about such books and text books available in our schools and libraries need to take a step back and consider the harm they are doing.
acarthel
January 11, 2011 at 2:54 pm
The last line of this article sums it up. We are a society that never wants to be uncomfortable. I marvel that in this day and time when everything minute detail about lives, crimes, and thoughts are splashed before our faces by every form of media and language that should never be repeated is heard at sporting events, movies, television, and sadly halls of schools that anyone would think that the removal of one word would do anything but weaken the effect of the injustices suffered by Jim. How in the world do you ever see your where you are going if you are too afraid and uncomfortable to face where you have been?
acarthel
January 11, 2011 at 2:54 pm
The last line of this article sums it up. We are a society that never wants to be uncomfortable. I marvel that in this day and time when everything minute detail about lives, crimes, and thoughts are splashed before our faces by every form of media and language that should never be repeated is heard at sporting events, movies, television, and sadly halls of schools that anyone would think that the removal of one word would do anything but weaken the effect of the injustices suffered by Jim. How in the world do you ever see your where you are going if you are too afraid and uncomfortable to face where you have been?
MatthewHeiser
January 11, 2011 at 3:07 pm
If a teacher is planning on using “Adventures of Huckberry Finn” in the classroom then that person needs to prepare his/her students for any content that may be offensive before the instruction begins. We can’t just edit material because it is offensive. We can choose not to use it, or choose not to read it, but we can’t change classics or anything for that matter because of certain words. Twain used the N-word because that fit into the story and characters he was using. When we start to edit things we are editing our first amendment rights.
We’re not going to put shorts on the statue of David so why are we going to edit “Huck Finn”?
MatthewHeiser
January 11, 2011 at 3:07 pm
If a teacher is planning on using “Adventures of Huckberry Finn” in the classroom then that person needs to prepare his/her students for any content that may be offensive before the instruction begins. We can’t just edit material because it is offensive. We can choose not to use it, or choose not to read it, but we can’t change classics or anything for that matter because of certain words. Twain used the N-word because that fit into the story and characters he was using. When we start to edit things we are editing our first amendment rights.
We’re not going to put shorts on the statue of David so why are we going to edit “Huck Finn”?
rachel rosenbaum
January 11, 2011 at 9:17 pm
I think it is silly to remove s word from any literary text. The teacher should be able to have an open discussion in the classroom but then I am not from the South so i do not understand all the issues .
Rachel Ethier Rosenbaum, Massachusetts
rachel rosenbaum
January 11, 2011 at 9:17 pm
I think it is silly to remove s word from any literary text. The teacher should be able to have an open discussion in the classroom but then I am not from the South so i do not understand all the issues .
Rachel Ethier Rosenbaum, Massachusetts
pjames157
January 14, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Mark Twain’s classic novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a part of America’s history—history can be whitewashed but it cannot be changed. Although our history, America’s history, can make people uncomfortable, it is what it is. I AM an American and a descendent of slaves. I’ve been called the N-word, especially in the 60s and 70s, but I never identified with the word or allowed the intent of its use to make me feel less. America’s history is both painful and triumphant—I choose to acknowledge the pain and live my life triumphantly.
pjames157
January 14, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Mark Twain’s classic novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a part of America’s history—history can be whitewashed but it cannot be changed. Although our history, America’s history, can make people uncomfortable, it is what it is. I AM an American and a descendent of slaves. I’ve been called the N-word, especially in the 60s and 70s, but I never identified with the word or allowed the intent of its use to make me feel less. America’s history is both painful and triumphant—I choose to acknowledge the pain and live my life triumphantly.