The school district of Lakeville, Minnesota ( http://www.isd194.k12.mn.us/) is currently "re-evaluating" the use of Mark Twain's famous book which is required reading for their students, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", due to complaints from parents in the district who are concerned with racism and the use of the "N-word" which appears 200 times in the book.
Has anyone ever seen a Richard Pryor comedy routine? I have to guess he used the "N-word" at LEAST 200 times in one of his acts so it makes me wonder if any of these concerned parents have watched Mr. Pryor's act. Either way this potential book banning in Lakeville was discussed in my local newspaper today -- very timely since it is Black History Month in the USA.
As readers of my flagship blog (http://spacebeaglenotes.blogspot.com) know I combat racism when I can so everyone should know I would never defend the racist themes in Huck Finn but as an aspiring historian let me state the obvious for the concerned parents in Lakeville -- "Huck Finn" is historical fiction, it used the language of the time it was written in so banning this book from students' eyes is a dis-service akin to Joseph Stalin's editing of photographs in the Soviet Union that eliminated people he had ordered killed thereby altering history. Students should read this book with some historical context and an understanding of the civil rights movement in the USA not as some guidebook for "keeping the black man down.................." Such a book could be used as an instructional tool - or at least as entertaining literature -- not as a trophy for the book burning community.
Think globally, read locally,
Todd
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
This blog is focused on books I have read, book readings I have attended, Banned Books Week, and related issues. I welcome your book reviews and suggested reading materials.
1 comment:
In an earlier post you had asked readers to let you know about other book sites. This is a little self serving but since you are talking about a book challenge, I would suggest taking a look at Fahrenheit 451: Banned Book Blog http://www.pelhamlibrary.blogspot.com. The last week in February is Freedom to Read Week in Canada and I will be issuing a challenge to our readers to set a goal for reading challenged or banned books from February until June. They can then leave comments that I will post on the web log.
Post a Comment