Huck Finn Petition Goes to School Board

The Oregonian ^ | 10/29/02 | Clifton R. Chestnut

[thinktwice]

Mark Twain is the Victor Hugo of America, but his greatest criticism comes from fundamentalist Christian preachers. Twain recognized hypocrisy when he saw it, and he made great fun of religious miscreants; but Twain had great respect for blacks and that love and respect for them is evident in all his writings.

It is truly sad that American kids are being fed a politically correct line villifying Mark Twain.

The following is from the book titled "The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain," and found under the subject "Race."

Samuel clemens, although not a college graduate himself, paid for the college education of two gifted black men, one of whom graduated from Yale Law School and became a judge, the other graduated from a Southern seminary and became a minister. Clements did not do this as a publicity stunt; in fact, he made no mention of it anywhere in his writings. It was not until 1985 that a Yale scholar unearthed documentary proof of Clemen's tuition payments and a letter to the deam of Yale explaining his motives. It was a partial payment of the reparation "due from every white man to every black man" for having perpetrated the crime of slavery.

[What Is Ain't]

The students do not want to ban the book. Rather, they say, teachers would be better equipped to teach it if they had ongoing sensitivity training.

The lunatics are in charge of the asylum.

[Welsh Rabbit]

At the turning point of the novel, he decides to help Jim even though he truly believes that he will go to Hell for it. He sacrifices his eternal soul to help Jim escape. That is why I admire Huck so. I look at myself and I realize I would more likely do the self-serving thing.

I feel the same way. Narrow-minded PC thought police can't see beyond the "N word", so they don't get the deeper meaning of what is one of the greatest novels ever written. These people are so stuck in the contemperary, that they don't understand that the novel totally supports the ideals they think they support. I can't help but to think that in the same time and place, they wouldn't be so liberal.

PS- I see by your handle that you've put considerable thought into the matter.

[Reelect President Dubya]

Thanks. It's too preposterous to believe without confirmation.

[Lee'sGhost]

"You have to be African American to understand what we've been through," he told the school board."

I used to think the people who said this meant that you had to be African American to relate to the "black experience" to be able to understand -- which of course is stupid. (The word "empathy" was invented for a reason.) These days I can only surmise that what they (being the people who say this) mean is that these "African Americans" are saying things to each other that they don't say to other races -- in other words, it's a "secret thing" -- and only the black folks who say "you have to be African American" are the ones in on the secret.

[Fintan]

How long before we hear of a petition to demolish the Jefferson Memorial?

Don't give them any ideas...

[CWRWinger]

He said it made him uncomfortable as a student in a predominately white school,

I strongly suggest Williams (seen that name around recently) pack it up and move to Zimbabwe or Uganda or Somolia where the cultural and political environment is absolutely perfect. And no Huck Finn.

[Huck]

I can't help but to think that in the same time and place, they wouldn't be so liberal.

Boy, that's a good point. I wouldn't have thought of it, but it rings true. Shrill voices.

PS- I see by your handle that you've put considerable thought into the matter.

I haven't studied the book or anything; I don't know what a college expert would say it means, but I own a copy, I read it about once a year, and it gets me in my heart every single time. I refuse to watch a movie version of it because I don't want the pictures in my mind tainted by any Hollywood version. I cherish the book, and when I get done reading it, I am inspired to try harder to be a better person, you know, even when no one is looking.

[Lee'sGhost]

"It was a partial payment of the reparation "due from every white man to every black man" for having perpetrated the crime of slavery."

Dare I? Oh, what the hell. Of course the stupid thing to say would be, "You'd have to be white to understand."

[yoe]

One more example of how dumbed down education is for American children. Mark Twain's literary talent is remarkable as was his insight for history. It is these students who need the sensitivity training, while they are at it half of the movies made from the 20's to the 50,s and some of the 60's use the word nigger, will they demand those be censored also?

Many people from Niger/Congo wound up on slave ships and as sailors working for foreigners who pronounced the word as it looks, hence it was not meant as what politically correct dumbed downs and other idiots think of as a “hate” word, it was simply a mispronounced word denoting where a person was from and who he/she was.

Young Williams and his peers will probably never know the beauty of America’s Aesop’s Fables by Joel Chandler Harris, loved by children of all ages and races. Or the hauntingly beautiful poems of Howard Weeden about plantation life and his wonderful black and white watercolors of the people he wrote about, knew and loved. Shakespeare and the Moors; today’s students learn little of the great literature but a lot about Black hate from authors who never knew anything but inner city ghettos and impoverished countries run by dictators that still enslave people. The well educated person of any color, never seems to have a problem with vernacular or patois of cultures, it is only the deliberately dumbed down American public school student and those teachers who ascribe to Political Correctness that are the loosers.

The Portland School Board will continue a disservice to their teachers and the children entrusted to them to teach if they bow to this childish and silly accusation of Charles McGee and Johnnie Williams, a form of racism in its self.

[Welsh Rabbit]

I haven't studied the book or anything; I don't know what a college expert would say it means, but I own a copy, I read it about once a year, and it gets me in my heart every single time.

I feel the same way about The Great Gatsby; I read it about once a year, and every time I learn something new about the meaning of "class", and the limitations of material ambition. I haven't read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn since high school, but this thread has inspired me to read it again this week...

[MindNotForSale]

That's nothing. I found an Illinois State Geological Survey Publication (now out-of-print), in which hard, dense and dark chert nodules were described an "niggerheads," and isolated limestone roof rocks were called "bastard" limestones. I cannot recall all the other PC violations it contained, but it was most humorous.

[Bob Buchholz]

What ever happened to wanting to preserve your 'culture'? No more negro sprirituals taught in school, no more slave songs that were passed down through the generations that truly described the slaves thoughts and feelings at the time. No true literature that describes the languange or cruelty of the times simply because current-day readers are too thin-skinned to understand that when the piece was written, that is exactly how people spoke. Does anyone that reads Mark Twain today not cringe at the unfairness of the treatment of the slaves.

Stories like the one above make me wonder exactly how he would like the history of slavery treated? Candy coating the situation would surely piss him off, but when it is acurately depicted he gets pissed off about that. Maybe he should rewrite Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer using the PC language and see how it flies.

[ThreeYearLurker]

im only 18, and these people make me feel like im having flash backs of WWII

I can tell.

This is Free Republic, not some chatroom on AOL. Learn how to capitalize letters at the start of a sentence, use apostrophes, and spell words properly before you post. Can't you see the "preview" button?

[Paul Atreides]

I find it amazing when people, who are constantly crowing about how bad they had it in the past (to the point of demanding reparations), gripe when they have to read a book about how bad they had it in the past.

Pssst, hey whiners, news bulletin:

MINORITIES WERE NOT CALLED "PEOPLE OF COLOR," "AFRICAN-AMERICANS," OR WHATEVER UNTIL JUST RECENTLY. THE WORLD DID NOT BEGIN THE SPLIT-SECOND YOU WERE BORN. ALSO, THERE WERE PLENTY OF DEROGATORY NAMES FOR WHITE PEOPLE IN THE PAST. IRISH, SCOTTISH, ITALIAN, GERMAN, FRENCH, GERMAN, ETC. PEOPLE WERE NOT IMMUNE. I SUGGEST THAT YOU TAKE ALL OF THAT TIME AND ENERGY THAT YOU PUT INTO GRIPING AND STIRRING UP TROUBLE, AND PUT IT INTO BETTERING YOURSELF AND LEARNING SOMETHING.

[Jonathon Spectre]

The essays cover the contributions of African Americans in science, language arts and other disciplines, said Carolyn Leonard, compliance officer for Portland Public Schools.

Anything in there about not being able to figure out boats?

[MacDorcha]

dont start with that crapola. this isnt PCRepublic. if i felt the urge to capitalize, or spell check, i would. you got my point didnt you? then don't bother me about details like that. if you understood me, then my message was clear enough.

[Paul Atreides]

It is the same with Gone With The Wind. Melanie was about the only white person that had any virtue. However, just look at Mammy, Big Sam, and Pork. Yet, they zero in on Prissy, whose worst offense was telling a lie about delivering babies.

[MacDorcha]

well put! pleased ta meet ya Huck!

[TopQuark]

If they would just READ the frickin book, maybe they'd understand the whole point of the novel... You are correct. If people truly read classics and appreciated the beauty of the language, their vocabularies would be wide enough not to resort to swearing. They would also be civil enough not to do so on a public forum. YOu are so correct on this issue, Portnoy.