Political Correctness strikes again (Pt 7 .. No Sex Dolls in School)

bearfan

bearfan

Ancient Mariner
(Reuters) - A U.S. scholar's decision to publish a new edition of Mark Twain's novel Huckleberry Finn -- with the "N-word" excised in a bid to make it more accessible to readers -- has drawn howls of protest.

Twain scholar Alan Gribben said he decided to reissue the 19th century classic "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" replacing the slur with the word "slaves" in all 219 places it occurs in the text because the original offended many readers.
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Gribben will jointly reissue another Twain classic, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" with epithets also deleted


http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70460O20110105
 
Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

Here's the deal.

I'm a white guy, so I can't relate as to whether or not this directly affects me, and whether or not racial epitephs negatively afflict a person.

But, removing the language of the time removes the poignancy of the books. Even if the books did offend some people, they should still be kept exactly as they are. Speech is more important than being offended.
 
Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

That decision is in direct violation of the 1st Amendment. I have African American friends who arn't offended by the book and I think that removing the n-word from such a classic book is even more offensive. It is like music censorship, it destroys the artist's creative expression. If you think the book is offensive then don't read the book. What I find even more rediculous is they are replacing it with "slaves". If they have to replace the word they should replace it with "African-American". I think my friends would be just as offended if I called them "slaves". One quote that I found intresting in the article was "It is a shame that a single word can form such an impediment to students enjoying the greatness of the narratives and the sharpness of their social critique." By the guy reisuing the book. I like this quote because, to me, it says exactly why the book SHOULDN'T be censored. It's too bad that the use of a word is turning people away from the book. As LC said, removing the word removes it's poiganancy ant that's just wrong. 
 
Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

Don Dokken said:
That decision is in direct violation of the 1st Amendment.
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No, not even close. The First Amendment applies to the government. A private company is printing an altered version of a work that's in the public domain. Ugly, but perfectly legal.
 
Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

The only place where you might get into 1st Amendment issues is if public schools place orders or asked for this version.  But for selling to the general public, the first amendment does not apply.  I would hope people will vote with their dollars and boycott this crap.
 
Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

bearfan said:
The only place where you might get into 1st Amendment issues is if public schools place orders or asked for this version. 
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I can definitely see that happening.
 
Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

Apparently Walt Disney excised about 30 seconds of the film Fantasia that showed a black centaur girl -- who looks remarkably like Buckwheat from the Little Rascals -- acting as a servant to the beautiful Caucasian centaurs.  This self-censorship has also generated similar outrage among film purists, though to be honest, the scene is so obviously racist that I'm not overly bothered by its removal.  I'd certainly want my kids to watch the "cleansed" version.  Plus, this is Disney changing its own artistic work, which it has every right to do. 

Re Mark Twain, I'm not even sure schools ordering the altered copy raises any First Amendment concerns.  (Educational concerns, sure, but not Constitutional.)  Indeed, I would assume that schools in predominantly black neighborhoods might prefer it.  And, as Huck Finn is in the public domain, people can do with it what they will. 
 
Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

I thought this was old news... I'm sure I heard of this (on this forum) like a year ago.

At any rate regarding Disney, Loony Toons, classic novels. There's a website called something like censored cartoons dot com (or around those lines) that have put up old "racist" cartoons that don't get aired anymore for "history" sake... They are very good, very racist pieces of animation and worth watching. Among them all the propaganda toons from WWII.
 
Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

Political correctness is tyranny with a happy face. - Charlton Heston.
 
Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

The book is a representation of a time when that language was in widespread use so any alteration of that is interfering with the historical accuracy of the novel. But it happens all the time; any mentions of the dog 'ni**er' (which was a common name for black dogs at the time) in the film The Dam Busters is usually now censored when it's showed on TV.
 
Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

Haha, I got that one on DVD last November, and when I watched it I thought about just that - "wonder if they rename that dog on TV ..."
 
Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

All in all, censorship generally is a bad thing, yes. Which is why when schools here wanted to pull To Kill a Mockingbird, I wrote angry letters and made some calls. And there's a very good reason why:

White people, straight people, men, etc, people from a position of privilege, need to understand that the things we have done in the past to minority or powerless groups was fucking bad. Our kids need to understand that calling a black person the n-word is a really, really bad thing. They (and I lump us all in, as the majority of people on this forum are white males) need to understand that while things aren't perfect now, and they aren't, they were worse, and if we don't remember how things were, how can we keep working forward?

It really does bother me. Are we changing the book because we don't want to offend people of African descent, or are we changing the book because we don't want to remember that we used to say such things as commonplace.

Honestly? I think the latter.
 
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Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

I would'nt really want to open this discussion, but I don't even think that some words, like the N-word, should not be said just because they are offensive. I mean, how offensive can it be if black people use it all the time? I'm jewish, so I don't really have an equivalent word, but it doesn't mean that if something offends me it can't be said. I agree the N-word SHOULD'NT be said just for the sake of saying it, but I don't think that it's importance in some people's minds is as great as they think.
 
Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

The problem with the term is that is really does have a long run of hatred behind it.

It's like a gay person calling themselves a fag, and someone who is outside of that circle using the same term. When used between some black people (I know many who hate the word, and would never use it even with other black people), it's meant as a sign of "belonging"; others use it as a slur. Intent is important.

That being said, I don't think that anyone should use the word in conversation, but hey. I don't get to dictate the rules of the English language.
 
Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

Mega said:
I would'nt really want to open this discussion, but I don't even think that some words, like the N-word, should not be said just because they are offensive. I mean, how offensive can it be if black people use it all the time? I'm jewish, so I don't really have an equivalent word, but it doesn't mean that if something offends me it can't be said. I agree the N-word SHOULD'NT be said just for the sake of saying it, but I don't think that it's importance in some people's minds is as great as they think.
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I didn't understand this either when I lived in Mexico. Then when I moved to Arizona 10 years ago I bumped into real awkward situations because of said word. I never got my ass kicked, but came close. Living here, talking to grand children and great grandchildren of one-time slaves really drives it home. I still think people do exaggerate a little bit and I have my own ideas of race-relations in the U.S, but at least now I understand the sensitivity surrounding naggers, I mean the n-word.

Also Cornell West, a very respected black sociologist has spoken and written many times about how the N-word is harmful regardless of who says it and that black youth are kidding themselves if they think by calling themselves that they are taking the word back or "owning" it. He argues they are only perpetuating their poor self image and poor self-esteem. Like Bill Cosby once said, "Being educated is not being white... it's being educated." (I'm paraphrasing).
 
Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

Do we even have anyone black on the forum? Would be interesting to hear their take on this.
 
Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

Onhell said:
Like Bill Cosby once said, "Being educated is not being white... it's being educated." (I'm paraphrasing).
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Bill Cosby is a fucking genius, and he should be the King of Black People, not Jesse Jackson.

(That is a South Park reference, in case people think I am being serious.)
 
Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

If they're bothered about the n-word being insulting, I can't really understand why come up with the idea of substituting that with "slave". Sounds insulting all the same to me, or even worse. Anyway, I think the word should be left in the book. I think it needs to be put in context: I seriously doubt Mark Twain advocated racism by using that word. As some of you have already pointed out, the dropping of such word would take some power away from the book.
 
Re: Political Correctness strikes again (Mark Twain)

LooseCannon said:
Bill Cosby is a fucking genius, and he should be the King of Black People, not Jesse Jackson.

(That is a South Park reference, in case people think I am being serious.)
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Shame, because his activist work merits more attention than his TV shows, which while unrealistic, attempted to portray positive images of African Americans.
 
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