Politically correcting history: a tragic mistake

I’ll be honest. My original intent with this blog post was to rant about the efforts of an Auburn University professor to publish a new edition of the Mark Twain classic Huckleberry Finn. This new edition would replace the word “nigger” with “slave.” To be sure, I find the “n-word” incredibly offensive. However, by censoring the use of this word in a classic work of literature takes away much of the meaning and cultural context of the original work.

As I mentioned, my original intent was to provide a lengthy rant on this subject because, quite frankly, it ticked me off. Instead I will turn your attention to two other commentaries on the subject who provide far better responses.

The first comes from Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times. Kakutani provides and excellent commentary on literary censorship throughout time while specifically dealing with the Huck Finn issue at hand. One of the most profound paragraphs from Kakutani’s article follows:

“Haven’t we learned by now that removing books from the curriculum just deprives children of exposure to classic works of literature? Worse, it relieves teachers of the fundamental responsibility of putting such books in context — of helping students understand that Huckleberry Finn actually stands as a powerful indictment of slavery (with Nigger Jim its most noble character), of using its contested language as an opportunity to explore the painful complexities of race relations in this country. To censor or redact books on school reading lists is a form of denial: shutting the door on harsh historical realities — whitewashing them or pretending they do not exist.”

You may find this article HERE.

The second comes from Ron Powers via CNN.com. Powers writes more of an emotional response than Kakutani that resonates with my opinion of the matter. His article may be found HERE.