'Huckleberry Finn' pulled from classes after parent complains

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

[rlmorel]

These are the same people who think the Three Fifths Clause was an attempt to devalue the lives of slaves by saying they were only worth three fifths of a white person.

Just a bunch of raging idiots.

[rlmorel]

Too Late.

The Mass Teachers Association has already locked up the school system. A gnat cannot fart without direction from the MTA.

[stboz]

"I wonder if God invented man because He was disappointed in the monkey?"

Mark Twain

[Tired of Taxes]

I allowed my 10yo son to read "Huckleberry Finn", but I sympathize with this parent. I'm sure it's not easy being the only black kid in the class. I sure remember being the only white kid on the school bus, and I know that wasn't easy.

I would also guess that this parent probably wouldn't agree with books like "King and King" being brought into the classroom, either. Just a guess.

[Future Snake Eater]

The greatest bit of irony in that book is when Huck is talking to a "good Christian woman" about him being on a steam ship whose boiler exploded. When asked if anyone was hurt, he replies, "No'm, killed a nigger." Relieved, she says "That's good."

It was a terrific anti-slavery/anti-racism piece, and yet, year after year, (black or guilt-feeling pansy white) people want it banned from here and there. Maybe someday they'll grow a damned brain.

[metmom]

Fahrenheit 451, here we come.

[VeniVidiVici]

Christ, just don't let this lady see you reading Huckleberry Finn while eating at Cracker Barrel.

[metmom]

ping

[skr]

My teacher just gave me another choice when I objected to a couple of books in junior high. The teacher didn't quibble and there were no expectations of others having to follow suit; just a book report and a requirement to listen to the class discussions about the other books.

[Jorge]

This so-called "parent" needs their ass kicked. This is America! We have a First Amendment. Mark Twain is America! Huck Finn is America! This "parent" is a scumbag.

You're joking right?

The fact is, if there are racial slurs, it doesn't belong in a public school.

This "parent" is right and you are wrong. Period.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

One of my best memories of school was being in the 6th grade and every day after lunch for the length of the story the teacher would turn out most of the room lights and read Huck Finn aloud for about 1/2 hour.

[Blackirish]

Christ, just don't let this lady see you reading Huckleberry Finn while eating at Cracker Barrel

---

Or let anybody know at FR you think Oscar Wilde was a great writer.

[countess]

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

same difference.

[Bubba_Leroy]

Huckleberry Finn should be recognized as the most important book of the Civil Rights movement.

That is the great irony. Anyone who thinks that Huckleberry Finn is a racist book clearly has either never read it or is unable to understand it.

[Chena]

Apparently this parent has never read the book. One parent's ignorance should not a policy make.

[Rembrandt_fan]

You wrote, "The fact is, if there are racial slurs, it doesn't belong in a public school."

Read the book, Jorge. For the love of God, just read the book. Twain's novel one of the most insightful, beautifully rendered allegories on the nature of friendship, justice, and racial equality ever written. The kind of blind, rubber-stamping censorship you advocate flies in the face of reason and all we know about the power of great literature.

[jude24]

The crucial scene in the novel shows Huck at war with himself; the society of his day has been teaching him from birth that turning in Jim is the right thing to do, the legal thing to do, the only thing to do. It goes even deeper: Huck thinks he will be literally damned to Hell if he doesn't turn in Jim to the authorities. But he doesn't, willing to endure the fires of Hell forever rather than betray the trust of his friend.

Unfortunately, I don't think the parents got to that point. They probably saw "n-----r," and freaked. Too bad this isn't a teachable moment for the parent too.

[Bubba_Leroy]

I think I need to read Huckleberry Finn again before some nazi raids my small library.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete

[Chena]

The fact is, if there are racial slurs, it doesn't belong in a public school. This "parent" is right and you are wrong. Period.

I disagree. Teaching children about literature, past and present, is an important part of their rounded education. Huckleberry Finn is not a HATE novel. There are valuable lessons to be learned in that novel whether you are white or black. In this instance, the parent would have been wiser to be an educator for the child rather than a sensor. This was a valuable, teachable moment for this parent, and this parent chose to fight rather than teach.

[Jorge]

Read the book, Jorge. For the love of God, just read the book.

Instead of handing out reading assignments, why don't you save us both time and just address the issues raised in the article?

Twain's novel one of the most insightful, beautifully rendered allegories on the nature of friendship, justice, and racial equality ever written. The kind of blind, rubber-stamping censorship you advocate flies in the face of reason and all we know about the power of great literature.

This is all very nice, but I'm still waiting for you to explain why black children in school should have to read books with racial slurs as part of their education?