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Huck... a racist?
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is in the news
again — this time John Martin, the principal of Mark Twain (of
all places) Intermediate School in Fairfax County, Va., has
ordered the book removed from the school’s curriculum.
This time the novel by Samuel Clemens (alias Mark Twain) is
being barred from a school under the accusation of racism.
Martin ordered the book removed after the school’s
racially mixed six-member faculty Human Relations Com
mittee objected to “the flagrant use of the word nigger’ and
the demeaning way in which black people are portrayed" in
the novel.
The last time “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was
under the threat of being banned — and in fact was banned
from a number of high school libraries — was for the scenes
when Huck and Jim (a runaway slave) are on the Mississippi
River in a raft, and Jim, reaching out to Huck in the water,
calls him “honey.”
By the rampaging revisionists lately responsible for
scouring classic novels (sort of neo-Bowdlerism) for moral
infractions — for Jim to address Huck by the term "honey” is
a definite intimation of homosexuality. It matters not to the
neo-Bowdlerian moralists that there is little, if any, textual
evidence of a homosexual relationship between Huck and
Jim.
Twain’s satirical novel puncturing racism and the mores
of the south, by being banned for use of the term "nigger,” is
in the midst of its very own adventures. In either case, the
charges of racism and homosexuality are nothing short of
ridiculous. How can a novel written in the 19th century —
defining the realities of a period in which there was slavery
and racism was an accepted mode of behavior — survive
unscathed a scrutiny from the pinnacle of our "enlightened
times.”?
me Dook is poison, John h. Wallace, a member ot the
Twain administration and the Human Relations Committee,
said. “It is anti-American, it works against the melting-pot
theory of our country; it works against the idea that all men
are created equal; it works against the 14th Amendment to
the Constitution and against the preamble that guarantees all
men life, liberty and pursuit of happiness."
Wallace's contention (including his sexism) is patently
absurd. There is validity to the use of the term “nigger,"
however offensive, in a literary description of black people if
only to accurately establish a context. To follow Wallace’s
basis means that not just Twain’s use of the term "nigger” is
poisonous, but so is Langston Hughes, James Baldwin,
Richard Wright, Leroi Jones, and the Last Poets (to name but
a few). Yet, it is doubtful that similar criteria would be applied
to the works of these authors. The use of the descriptive term
“nigger" by Richard Wright in “The Invisible Man” is virtually
the same as that of Twain. Neither use the term as would a
racist.
The semantic tools of a language must remain free from
revisionary factions. To diminish the extent of language
diminishes the effectiveness of comprehension. "Nigger” is
an offensive term to both blacks and whites. However, the
understanding of the word "nigger" is quite different to
blacks than to whites. The word is part of black vernacular,
and used more in the form of a noun or pronoun. It's probably
the most frequently used word in comedian Richard Pryor's
act.
Principal Martin's banning of “Huckleberry Finn" has
brought sharp criticism from education officials and the
ACLU. However, the ACLU hasn’t announced any action to
counter the banning of the novel.
Chan Kendrick, executive director of the Virginia ACLU,
summed the argument best, saying "There are scores of
books offensive to one group or another which are recog
nized as being great pieces of literature. You need to read
those books in their historical context.”
To ban a book because of a word or scene that may be
considered offensive to a group actually encroaches on the
freedoms held for all Censorship, be it prior to, or long after
publication, is the most heinous act. Educators should not
attempt to protect students from the realities of society, be
they historical or contemporary.
GiJTAWU
vCa-iv'fCw; -
my?
I solly hodgkinson
editor's note
A cartoon logger, dressed in an orange
workshirt, red suspenders, blue jeans and
laced-up high-top boots, grins from the neon
sign: Pour House Tavern.
About half of the parking lot is filled —
mostly pickups and four-wheel drives The
bar is next door to the Wood Products Credit
Union and a block from the main Weyerha
euser plant in Springfield
It's 9:30 on a Monday night and cus
tomers are sparse Most are huddled around
the pool tables. Twenty-two of 24 regular
tables are empty.
"Whadja want?” the waitress asks a
couple. She is dressed in tight designer
jeans; a western shirt. "We got Bud, Miller,
Schiltz. All the same price.” Two bottles are
ordered. “Wanta glass?” she asks the
woman. After the waitress saunters away,
the man chuckles. "She didn't ask me if I
wanted a glass. Sexist.”
“Goddam-you-son-of-a-bitch,” one of
the patrons roars from the vicinity of the pool
tables. He grabs the work-shirt shoulder of
his friend and shakes it, almost toppling the
man
Dolly Parton fades away in the
background and is replaced by Paul
McCartney. The musics thumps out of the
seven speakers then abruptly stops. "John,
that was terrible,” the waitress complains
from behind the bar. "It sounds like a den
tist’s drill.” McCartney is replaced by the
Rolling Stones
At one of the two tables being used, a
couple drains an pitcher of amber beer. The
man, dressed in faded-but-clean levis, a navy
blue sweater and a rust down vest, is doing
most of the talking. Leaning forward, he
gestures to emphasize a point. The music
stops. “Chuck said he's been on unem
ployment for two or three weeks now and he
says those bastards ” The music thumps
again from the speakers
His companion, a heavy-set woman
dressed in a polyester, blue and white polka
dotted shirt with a brown and orange blouse
underneath, keeps nodding ‘’"he man leans
forward again, and bangs his fist on the
formica table top She nods, looking away
Her hair is pulled into a tight knot at the nape
of her neck that emphasizes her stoic face
Her lips move only to let beer pass through
Her head bobs again. She notices someone
watching her, crosses her arms and looks
back at her companion. And nods again
The light in the bar is subdued. The
paneling, ceiling, beams, part of the floor,
chairs and bar are wood Brick and the
blinking video games are squatters in the
tavern s wood decor Horns from two long
dead five-point bucks are nailed to one of the
crossbeams
Outside, in the still, nippy air the neon
logger glows In the background, Weyerha
euser lazily spits gray smoke into the dark
night, it's light creating an almost science
fiction picture The logger's happy-go-lucky
grin seems out of place
letters
Mankind
"I wish the professors at the
University would have the sen
sitivity to include women in their
language," declares Janet
Brown (Emerald, 8 April).
Women, though, are in fact in
cluded in 'man or mankind ”
In English — and several other
languages — one word, ‘ man,"
denotes all members of the
human race, male and female,
children and adults, as well as,
in different contexts, adult
males. Hence, in modern
anthropology and biology, all
members of the genus homo, of
which homo sapiens is the only
species extant, are called
"man." "Man," "mankind,"
Regardless of the "injustice,"
proper English grammar, in
such contexts, "subsumes"
sensitivity
David Dole
staff
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