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'Huckleberry Finn' pulled from classes after parent complains
The Lansing State Journal ^
| November 3, 2006
| AP
Posted on 11/03/2006 6:54:37 PM PST by 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. |
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TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Michigan
KEYWORDS: alangribben; auburnuniversity; blackkk; books; homeschool; huckfinn; huckleberryfinn; literature; marktwain; moralabsolutes; pc; politicalcorrectness; race; racism; samclemens; samuelclemens; tomsawyer
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1
posted on
11/03/2006 6:54:39 PM PST
by
Stoat
To: Stoat
Maybe they can bring in that little racist girl who writes the "I hate Whitey" poetry...
Comment #3 Removed by Moderator
To: The Worthless Miracle
Long live the book-burning, tag-banning PC crowd *rolls eyes*
4
posted on
11/03/2006 6:57:05 PM PST
by
Nova442
("Cry Havoc and let slip the Dogs of War.")
To: Stoat
Hello, I am Johnny's mother and I am so stupid I do not understand what this book is about so nobody else should be allowed to read it.
5
posted on
11/03/2006 6:57:43 PM PST
by
msnimje
(You simply cannot be Christian and Pro-Abortion.)
To: Stoat
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.
6
posted on
11/03/2006 6:58:05 PM PST
by
FlingWingFlyer
(This just in! Islamofascists say they will not "change direction" after U.S. elections.)
To: Stoat
Huckleberry Finn should be recognized as the most important book of the Civil Rights movement.
To: Stoat; 69ConvertibleFirebird; AFA-Michigan; Alexander Rubin; AliVeritas; ...
8
posted on
11/03/2006 6:59:45 PM PST
by
wagglebee
("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
To: msnimje
this from a parent who probably thinks the word "niggardly" is a racial slur..
9
posted on
11/03/2006 7:00:06 PM PST
by
GeorgiaDawg32
(To the brave soldiers "stuck" in Iraq, come Tuesday, I've got your back..)
To: Stoat
10
posted on
11/03/2006 7:00:41 PM PST
by
cripplecreek
(If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?)
To: Stoat
Samuel Clements (Mark Twain) was an abolitionist. Huck referred to the runaway slave Jim as "nigger Jim" in the first of the book. Many people can't get beyond this to the progression of their relationship where Huck sees Jim as a friend and an equal and refers to him as "Jim".
11
posted on
11/03/2006 7:01:38 PM PST
by
Abcdefg
To: Stoat
"The fact that the (word) is used in the novel is disturbing, but it's the job of the teacher to explain why," Berkov said. "The fact that an ugly word appears is no reason at all to ban the book." What's disturbing is that political correctness is taken to such an extreme the the word "nigger" nowhere appears in this article, even in quotes, when it's appearance in the book is central to the whole controversy. How ridiculous.
12
posted on
11/03/2006 7:03:13 PM PST
by
Hugin
To: The Worthless Miracle
Maybe they can bring in that little racist girl who writes the "I hate Whitey" poetry...I haven't heard about this (embarrassed)
Can you supply some additional information?
Thank you :-)
13
posted on
11/03/2006 7:03:22 PM PST
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: Stoat
Well, there's always "Are You There God? It's me, Margaret."
To: Stoat
But they refuse to pull King and King from elementary schools!! Likewise other homosexual stories. This country has lost ALL it's bearings.
15
posted on
11/03/2006 7:04:21 PM PST
by
gidget7
(Political Correctness is Marxism with a nose job)
To: 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.
To: Abcdefg
Samuel Clements (Mark Twain) was an abolitionist. Huck referred to the runaway slave Jim as "nigger Jim" in the first of the book. Many people can't get beyond this to the progression of their relationship where Huck sees Jim as a friend and an equal and refers to him as "Jim".
Precisely! It's an excellent learning tool in teaching anti racism!
17
posted on
11/03/2006 7:05:44 PM PST
by
gidget7
(Political Correctness is Marxism with a nose job)
To: Abcdefg
How sad that some folks don't have the intelligence to understand Mark Twain's writings. Huck Finn was the first book ever to portray blacks as equal to whites.
18
posted on
11/03/2006 7:06:15 PM PST
by
Inyo-Mono
(If you don't want people to get your goat, don't tell them where it's tied.)
To: 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.
19
posted on
11/03/2006 7:08:20 PM PST
by
Lonesome in Massachussets
(The hallmark of a crackpot conspiracy theory is that it expands to include countervailing evidence.)
To: Stoat
Yeah, but if it was pulled for teaching evolution, then people would cheer, right?
sigh.....
20
posted on
11/03/2006 7:09:37 PM PST
by
Central Scrutiniser
(Pro Evolution, Pro Stem Cell Research, Pro Science, Pro Free Thought, and Conservative)
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