'Huckleberry Finn' pulled from classes after parent complains

The Lansing State Journal ^ | November 3, 2006 | AP

[Stoat]

'Huckleberry Finn' pulled from classes after parent complains

Associated Press

 

TAYLOR - Mark Twain's classic "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" has been pulled from high school classes after a parent of a black student complained that a teacher had students read portions aloud.

There is only one black child in the English class where the book, which contains racial slurs, was read aloud and acted out, The Detroit News reported Thursday.

The book will remain on the shelves at Taylor School District's high schools. The district's curriculum committee will recommend to the school board whether the book should have a future in district classrooms.

"We want to be sensitive to how the children feel," said Lynette Sutton, assistant superintendent for secondary instruction.

The 1880s novel about a white boy's first-person account of his adventures along the Mississippi River with a runaway slave named Jim has long been controversial because of its use of racial slurs and its representations of blacks and women.

[Jorge]

I know that sensible folks know that banning Huckleberry Finn from these classes is wrong. :)

Too bad they've been embarrassed to have you as an advocate.

And that the authorities have banned such racist nonsense from our children's education...and that bozos like you have not only been proven wrong but are losers as well.

[Rockingham]

Yes. And throughout the book, Jim acts honorably, courageously, and with great loyalty to Huck. In the novel, Twain, a Southerner who opposed slavery, deliberately subverted the belief that Blacks were inferior. But it seems that after the civil rights era, today's Blacks are so, well, fragile, that they cannot be permitted to hear a bad word, even in a favorable context.

[Jorge]

It's people like you that have made one of MY favorite books, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. That my friend is where we are heading. It's the old camel's nose gig.

Right. Children can't EVEN read racist literature.

Sound the alarm!

[LexBaird]

And that the authorities have banned such racist nonsense from our children's education..

Well, judging by this thread, you and the book-banners have something in common. You both make snap judgments on scant evidence which you then encase in pure titanium. Your opinions are uneducatable because you'd rather "win" the argument then benefit from it.

Huck Finn is as far from "racist nonsense" as anything written by Frederick Douglass. The reasons why have been amply pointed out by several of the posters here. Indeed, the biggest example of "racist nonsense" displayed was by the kneejerk parent who triggered the whole flap, exposing his/her utter ignorance to anyone who has read the book thoughtfully.

[LexBaird]

"then" should be "than". Go to bed lex...

[Chena]

Excellent comment, LexBaird. Good evening. :)

[Stoat]

Awwwww, that is such a cute picture! My elderly cat (almost 14 years old now) looked just like that when she was a kitten. In spite of the fact that I have always allowed her to go outside when she chooses to, she has survived the wilds of Alaska. Many don't.

I'm delighted to hear that you have given an honorable, furry Alaskan Viking Kitty a loving home and have nurtured her to such blissful maturity.  Her ability to thrive in the wilds of Alaska is a testament to the solid upbringing and loving environment that you have provided for her.  She is surely a leader of local Viking Kitties, and serves as an example to all.

See you 'round the threads, Stoat. :)

I hope so  :-)

[Stoat]

But they refuse to pull King and King from elementary schools!! Likewise other homosexual stories. This country has lost ALL it's bearings.

It's all part of the sick, cancerous pattern of always bending over backwards to please Leftist special interests.....it's part of the homosexual agenda to indoctrinate children to the concept of a 'normal and acceptable' homosexual culture, and it's part of the Left's interest to always bend to the first person who cries "RACISM!" even when it's presented in an entirely appropriate manner in a quality, historical context.  This allows them to maintain power by demeaning the majority culture and maintaining an atmosphere of fear.

[Stoat]

Thank you very much for pinging your list :-)

[Stoat]

"We want to be sensitive to how the children feel,"

But of course we do.. and also be sensitive to adults who refuse to grow up.
 

As well as to those adults who very likely have never read a book in their lives, have no concept of 'language in a historical context' and whose first impulse, when presented with something that they don't understand, is to scream "RACISM!" and indignantly demand that it be banned for all, while refusing to educate themselves as to why the work has been internationally heralded as a timeless classic and a literary masterpiece for the ages.

"We want to be sensitive to how the children feel,"

But of course we do.. and also be sensitive to adults who refuse to grow up.
 

As well as to those adults who very likely have never read a book in their lives, have no concept of 'language in a historical context' and whose first impulse, when presented with something that they don't understand, is to scream "RACISM!" and indignantly demand that it be banned for all, while refusing to educate themselves as to why the work has been internationally heralded as a timeless classic and a literary masterpiece for the ages.

[TLI]

You must have not understood my post. I SAID it DOESN'T BELONG.

Getting a bit tired tonight? Cranky? Can't quite get a grip on what I said?

Too bad you do not have the insight to realize that the kids in school are smart enough to figure out what the book is about and the fact that it was written a VERY long time ago and that is how things were back then.

It's called e-d-u-c-a-t-i-o-n. You remember, that history stuff. Facts and all that. Perhaps YOU should go back to high school...

[Stoat]

Yeah, but if it was pulled for teaching evolution, then people would cheer, right?

Well, if it's any consolation, I certainly wouldn't.:-)

I am all for the proper, in-context presentation of any relevant and useful information about any subject, providing it's discussed coherently and completely..

I confess that I haven't met anyone who supports pulling books on Evolution out of classrooms; most people I've met only want a fair, accurate picture given to all sides of the matter.

I gather from your post that your experience is different, and I'm sorry to hear that.  It takes all sorts to make up our world.

[Stoat]

Actually, to anyone with a wit of common sense, the "racist" portions of Huckleberry Finn are (unlike a John Kerry attempt at humor) IRONIC!

Jim always saw and articulated things more clearly than the White folks, he just wasn't taken seriously because of his race. Some White person was always taking credit for his insights and ideas.

The racists words used by characters in Huck Finn are so obviously at variance with the situations depicted that the overall effect is to subtly undermine the pervailing (even in the North and most of Europe) racism of the day.

Please grow up, people.

All true and well-stated.  I believe that at least some of this entrenched ignorance is due at least in part to the domination of Television upon our culture.  Some people have their TV's running all day long, and I've met a number of people who tend to get nervous and uncomfortable when there is silence....they always need the noise of the TV, the fast edits, the vivid colors, the inarticulate, guttural speech peppered with slang and vile words.  These people have, I believe, never read a book in their lives and have no understanding of such concepts as 'language in a historical context' , allegory or depth of any sort.  These people have been, in my experience, exclusively liberal, sometimes Hard Left, and think nothing of continually interrupting others, just like Chris Matthews does.  Racial politics is near and dear to the thinking of these people because it's overly simplistic and causes the ardent practitioner to always feel good about themselves, because of course, being a racist is far, far worse than being a murderer or a rapist.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

The greatest bit of irony in that book is when Huck is talking to a "good Christian woman"

Off topic, but my favorite Twainism is, "He had the cool confidence of a Christian holding four aces."

[Hawk1976]

Not to mention the book and main character's opposition to slavery.

[ripley]

"and also be sensitive to adults who refuse to grow up."

the problem is that they don't even try.

[patton]

Thanks for the photo.

[wintertime]

It's called e-d-u-c-a-t-i-o-n. You remember, that history stuff. Facts and all that. Perhaps YOU should go back to high school...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I agree with you on a personal level,,,however,,,do you have enough confidence in your personal educational philosophy that you would impose it on other people's children by threats of force. Would you force others to pay for your personal educational philosophy? I certainly do not have that confidence.

Education can **never**be politically, culturally, or religiously neutral, either in content or consequences. That is why government should **never**be in the education business.

Government owns and runs schools that are **compulsory** for all those without an alternative. Government compulsion means police, court, and foster care action against those who refuse to attend. It also means police and court action against those who refuse to pay for a non-neutral political, cultural, and religious government school agenda.( indoctrination).

Government schools are an abomination because they deeply offend the freedom of conscious of the taxpaying citizen and the students ( and their parents) who are compelled by police threat to attend them. If our Founding Fathers could have imagined the government schools of today they would have included freedom from government education in our Bill of Right.

[wintertime]

It's all part of the sick, cancerous pattern of always bending over backwards to please Leftist special interests.....Stoat

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The solution is to begin the process of privatizing universal K-12 education.

Remember, any government powerful enough to force one child to sit through Mark Twain is powerful enough to force your child to sit through "Heather has Two Mommies".

[wintertime]

freedom of conscious

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


That should be: conscience.