Except they’re banning many of the “classics”, too.
“Huck Finn” has been banned in a lot of districts in favor of the inferior “To Kill a Mockingbird”.
To Kill a Mockingbird is actually a great book. My question is why not read both?
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn reveals a lot about the way things were during the time period. Racism and the slurs used in the original book were common to the time. As the book is fiction, it’s also a teaching tool about how things were in pre-civil war America, as Mark Twain certainly included reflections of the time period in what he wrote. Racism was bad, but trying to sugar-coat what happened is worse. At least when I was in about sixth grade, when we discussed Huckleberry Finn as part of our lesson in History, we admitted and discussed the factual aspect of how racism was, and how we can get better from it. It was similar when we read the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” in 7th grade English, there was plenty to think about how history was, and how we can live differently now. Again, nothing irritates me more than the refusal of numerous people to reflect about the way history was, sure there was bad things that happened, but instead of simply condemn it, how about thinking how you can live differently. Again, reflection is more important than reaction.