| Nov 3, 2006 @ 10:09 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics
|
|
spongebob777
Posts: 7,904
|
'Huckleberry Finn' pulled from classes after parent complains
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.
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061103/NEWS05/611030322/1006/news05
I guess someone isn't aware that Twain was an abolitionist and that by the end of the book "Jim" loses the derogatory name. Maybe we can have us an old fasioned book burning and all remain ignorant and supposedly happy.
|
|
  |
|
| Nov 3, 2006 @ 10:19 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics |
|
Bj864
Posts: 3,110
|
Everything always gets carried too far, doesn't it? Too bad people can't just use some common sense. There are slurs to all races, sex, nationality, religion and politics, etc in many books. Are we going to ban them all?
I found this sad.
|
| |
|
| Nov 3, 2006 @ 10:27 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics
|
|
spongebob777
Posts: 7,904
|
In the case of Huck Finn the racial slurs are an important part of the lesson in the book. The racial slurs disappeared because Jim and Huck became friends PERIOD.
|
|
| |
|
| Nov 3, 2006 @ 11:03 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics |
|
DoorWatcher
Posts: 6,259
|
Censorship of books is dangerous, stupid, and just plain ignorant. Hasn't supposed civilization learned anything??? In schools, we faced this issue on a regular basis, but none of the school systems I worked for ever caved in....probably because the opposition was so weak. When it builds to a crescendo, then we WILL have a problem. He!!, I read the other day where some state's libraries were banning a book that was totally innocuous. Sorry, can't remember the book...but I read way too much, and remember far too little....but I'm old....  Just another signal of danger.
|
| |
|
| Nov 3, 2006 @ 11:07 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics
|
|
DoorWatcher
Posts: 6,259
|
Sorry, not trying to hog the thread, but I also read where a school conducted a trial run of a hostage situation/school attack/homeland security exercise to practice their procedures and to educate the school, and the Parents Protested because it scared the children. What do they think a real tragic incident will do??? What if a real situation had happened....what would the parents say then?? Why weren't you prepared??? Why weren't you better trained?? Why wasn't the school included in the preparations?? Good grief, parents want the school systems to handle ALL responsibilites for the children that they are either too exhausted to handle or too lazy to do, and then bitch when they try to accommodate the demands. Poor teachers. 
|
|
| |
|
| Nov 3, 2006 @ 11:12 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics |
|
twotall911
Posts: 12,835
|
DW ---but I'm old.... Just another signal of danger. 
|
| |
|
| Nov 9, 2006 @ 8:51 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics
|
|
eastham
Posts: 6,318
|
There is also a parent's group trying to get the Harry Potter series taken off the shelves of public libraries. Contends that Harry Potter, a book that made children read again, promotes Satanism, which it doesn't. When the book first came out, there was a hilarious satirical piece in Spy magazine about Harry Potter and Satanism. After I finished reading it, I thought for a moment and wondered what if someone was stupid enough to think this was true and not satire. Well, about a one later, I'm reading an article about another effort to ban the book and what is the family quoting -- the article from Spy!
|
|
| |
|
| Nov 9, 2006 @ 9:09 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics |
|
gonzosc1
Posts: 22
|
ah yes, the censorship monster rears its ugly head once agian....
one of my fav censorship moments was back in the 80's when Al Gores nazi book burning wife Tipper, wanted to start censoring rock music songs. it was so funny to see all of them get a new a$$hole ripped by John Denver, Dee Synder and Frank Zappa... this surely was the begining of the end for Al Gore,,,LOL
|
| |
|
| Nov 9, 2006 @ 9:16 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics
|
|
eastham
Posts: 6,318
|
In the last week of September, the American Library Association (that group of subversive librarians in Shetland sweaters, navy skirts and sensible shoes) "celebrates" National Banned Books Week. Librarians spend the week educating people about books that have been banned in this country and around the world. Of course, this year the principal in the Harrisonburg PA High School made the librarian take down notices of the week, saying that the librarian was encouraging students to read banned books because they are on a controversial list and not because of their content. Huh? Guess what, this was the 3rd year the library had recognized the event, but the first the prinicipal ever commented on it.
|
|
| |
|
| Nov 9, 2006 @ 9:30 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics |
|
eastham
Posts: 6,318
|
From the American Library Association -- Top 10 Challenged Authors of the Last Decade:
1. Alvin Schwartz (writer of the "Scary Stories" series for children)
2. Judy Blume (writer of such classics as "Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret)
3. Robert Cormier (his 26 year old book, "The Chocolate War")
4. J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter)
5. Michael Willhoite (writes books for kids with gay parents)
6. Katherine Paterson ("Bread and Roses" endorses labor unions)
7. Stephen King (another devil worshiper in some quarters)
8. Maya Angelou ("I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" yep banned)
9. R.L. Stine (writer of scary stories for children)
10. John Steinbeck (One of the authors most likely to have an attempt to ban his books, especially "Of Mice and Men" and "The Grapes of Wrath."
|
| |
|
| Nov 9, 2006 @ 10:45 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics
|
|
MotownManiax
Posts: 7,881
|
Another case of PC run amok. I hope there's a majority of rational parents in the Taylor school district that are willing to stand up, be counted, and reverse this nonsense.
|
|
| |
|
| Nov 9, 2006 @ 10:46 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics |
|
spongebob777
Posts: 7,904
|
Pretty amazing that one parent can decide what should be in the school.
|
| |
|
| Nov 9, 2006 @ 11:56 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics
|
|
SunBabe
Posts: 12,243
|
Oh, the Harry Potter banning is a big churchy issue. I was SHOCKED to hear a discussion in this town...I thought they were being funny -- at first!
It's also why our local WalMart hasn't carried the last half of the series  (I asked) But then this is a town whose schools declared Halloween banned on that day -- because it's "Satanic".  (Sure a lot of kids and their (costumed!) parents trick or treating that night, though  )
Aiyeeee...if Harry Potter is wicked and evil, what's next? Peter Pan, Goldilocks and Little Red Riding Hood? 
Heck, I credit Judy Blume for teaching my daughter to THINK.
And what little kid DOESN'T like scarey stories once in awhile? It helps them deal with REALITY, not a candy-coated world. (Ever read the direct translations of Grimm's Fairytales from the original German? ...now they're definitely GRIM.)
 It breaks my heart that there may be several generations who grow up in a sanitized world...but if I ever have grandchildren, I'll make SURE to pass along my "classics"!!!
|
|
| |
|
| Nov 10, 2006 @ 8:04 AM |
Say goodbye to the classics |
|
eastham
Posts: 6,318
|
Just finished reading your post SunBabe and watched my neighbor's children "help" put up the Thanksgiving decorations in the window. They have the turkey sideways, so it looks dead already --- now that's GRIM! 
|
| |
|
| Nov 10, 2006 @ 10:24 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics
|
|
DoorWatcher
Posts: 6,259
|
East, at least nine of your top ten are books for middle school kids.
|
|
| |
|
| Nov 10, 2006 @ 10:33 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics |
|
eastham
Posts: 6,318
|
Door,
Given that they say 10% buy 90% of the books, my apartment will attest that I have thrown those statistics to the wolves! An apartment just full of books.
Yes, I also think it is a little peculiar all of the books mentioned are geared toward children. It's not that I think subversives are writing toward children, but those who want to close their minds, definitely do.
I remember as a high school student hearing that the public library had books behind the counter that only your parent could sign out. I put "Lady Chatterley's Lover" on hold. As my mother read it in a stall in the lady's room of her first job, she couldn't forgive me, but hells bells. What is this world coming to when books like Harry Potter don't even get the same treatment at "Lady Chatterley's Lover?"
C
|
| |
|
| Nov 16, 2006 @ 10:38 AM |
Say goodbye to the classics
|
|
midnightthunder
Posts: 235
|
I think the teacher could of been a bit more sensitive, perhaps explain some of the terms and how they were freely used at that time.
Considering how times have changed somewhat since the book was written, those ugly slurs still manage to carry a considerable amount of weight.
Should the book be banned, no it shouldn't it is a piece of history, but reverse everything for a moment, take a child who is white and have them read Uncle Toms Cabin in front of a crowd of black children.
Now who would want their child in that situation, although harmless, it can still leave an emotional scar.
Both books are classics, but a little understanding of feelings, could of made a big difference.
|
|
| |
|
| Nov 16, 2006 @ 7:38 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics |
|
SunBabe
Posts: 12,243
|
The whole point in exposing ALL people to those 'classics' is to help CREATE the understanding...just assigning them as a reading project doesn't help much if they aren't discussed in class afterward (just as with "Catcher in the Rye", Shakespeare, "1984", and "Animal Farm", etc) Books like that teach people(kids) to T-H-I-N-K, not "parrot" 
|
| |
|
| Nov 16, 2006 @ 10:30 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics
|
|
eastham
Posts: 6,318
|
Unfortunately, thinking is not in vogue these days. Teachers teach to tests and are discouraged from teaching critical thinking skills.
|
|
| |
|
| Nov 16, 2006 @ 10:41 PM |
Say goodbye to the classics |
|
SunBabe
Posts: 12,243
|
~ugh~ wasn't that the Japanese experiment?
I am SOOOOoo glad my kids were encouraged to use critical thinking and imagination instead of being graded on regurgitation. (Harder to evaluate compared to computerized scoring, of course  )
|
| |
|
|
|
|