Taking a Red Pen to History

I’ve just learned from a recent Entertainment Weekly article that a new edition of ‘Huckleberry Finn’ is being published in which all usages of the “n” word are removed. They’re being replaced with the word “slave”, if you’re curious. Many people have already jumped to call this an act of censorship and/or have rolled their eyes at this obvious attempt to cater to those who value “political correctness”. I have to say that I wholeheartedly agree with both of these assessments. This is an act of censorship because I would be willing to bet that Mark Twain is rolling over in his grave at this version of his classic. The fact is that if he wanted to call black people slaves, he would’ve done so in the book’s original publication. Changing his language in the name of “updating” the book is not in keeping with the author’s wishes, and I don’t care if that author is alive or dead. In truth, he called black people “niggers” because that was the language used in that time period.

Yes, I did just type that. I almost can’t believe it myself, because I hate the “n” word. It is just as degrading, downright awful and simply unacceptable as any other racial slur. One of the worst things in high school was going around the room and reading passages of Huck Finn out loud, so that we were all forced to actually verbalize the word. It was offensive and it kind of burned your throat to say it, and of course this is still true today. Now, in the name of being politically correct, this edition of the book is being published so that the offensive word can be avoided, and I believe that nothing good can come of this. As terrible as it is, the word has to stay in the book and its meaning must be addressed.

How else will students learn about life in the South long before the civil rights movement? How else will students be able to fully realize the asinine point of view of the white slave owners who considered themselves far superior to any other race? Furthermore, once we start editing books in this way, aren’t we looking at a slippery slope? What would be next – editing Hitler’s speeches to Nazi Germany in which he called the Jews “vermin”, among other things?

This hateful speech has to remain in its original format and its historical context must be fully explained to modern readers. To me, history must be portrayed truthfully and realistically if it is to be meaningful. How are students to understand women fighting for suffrage and factory workers fighting for their rights and any other movement for change unless they know the conditions that led to that movement? Otherwise, we risk students memorizing a date and a few key terms in a textbook and forgetting it a week after the exam, bereft of any meaning.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the relevance that this novel still holds today. A friend of a friend had some wonderfully-phrased thoughts on this: “…All because some privileged people think their kids shouldn't be subjected to the word "nigger" when in reality the parents should not only be making sure the book stays around (it's considered one of the principle works of American literature for crying out loud), but making their kids get out in the world and see how that word is used today. The idea behind the word, the sentiment it carries forth, is still very alive today. This edited book shouldn't exist because it eliminates the learning about that sentiment and how it still affects America and the world - that's the point of the book that hasn't lost an iota of meaning since Twain put it to paper….We're nutering this book - it will no longer give birth to an understanding of American racism.” Indeed, I couldn’t have said it better myself, and I thank Daniel Edward Onley for articulating this thinking so well.

Here’s a related example based on my experience: In my sophomore year of high school, in a very small North Carolina town, we spent about 5 minutes discussing the Holocaust in my history class. (Not exaggerating, I timed the teacher). Then we simply moved on to the next event, as we were behind schedule and had to get through the Second World War before the next test…Now I ask, isn’t that ridiculous? Doesn’t that make you angry? “Oh by the way, millions of people were brutally killed and tortured because they were viewed as sub-human. Now on to the next item on the agenda!” Anyway, it sure angers me. The only way that any of my peers truly understood the Holocaust was through my English teacher in that same year. For her class, one of the assigned books was Elie Weisel’s ‘Night’, still one of those that I count as amazingly influential to me. By reading and analyzing this book, along with its historical context, the full meaning of the Holocaust and its relevance in the past and present became clear.

As soon as we start taking a red pen to history, eliminating those words and photos and events that make us squirm, we drain it of its meaning. How are we to learn from our mistakes and avoid repeating them in the future if we don’t truly know and understand our history? Let me end by quoting Mark Twain himself, “A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t”. It’s so true – if we won’t read the stark truth of our history, we have no advantage whatsoever over an illiterate person.