Less than a week ago, I was thinking about my exposure to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I realized that I had never read the book and that my only exposure to Huck Finn had been through television. I knew the character, knew some of the story, but had never read the book.
I know. Tragedy, right? I'm embarrassed to admit it, reader that I am.
So, less than a week ago, I started reading the book.
Mark Twain was bold and brilliant. The book captures that in a way the television movies never did.
Last night, I was on twitter and noticed one of the trending topics was Huckleberry Finn. Of course, it caught my eye. Curious, I checked out the tweets and learned people were up in arms about Twain's book being edited to replace the "N" word with "slave."
My initial reaction was, "They can't do that! It represents the climate and culture of the times! Erasing the "N" word won't erase the injustice that was done and the racial prejudice from our history! If anything, it will water it down, and how will we continue to move forward if we minimize where we've been?"
My second reaction was, "Wait a minute. I'm white. Is my response justifiable? Would I feel differently if I was black?"
Today, I had an opportunity to spend some meaningful time with a colleage who has also become a dear friend. We have worked together over the past few years with a focus on diversity in the workplace. We are committed to it and have had countless meaningful discussions in and out of work. My friend is black.
So, today, I asked her how she felt about removing the "N" word from the book. She was opposed. She went on to explain, and I learned her opposition aligned with mine.
I'm grateful for historical literature that thoughtfully and powerfully reveals the climate of our past. I'm grateful that we can know from where we've come so that we can keep moving forward.
There are several good news articles about this debate. I also recommend the NPR audio available online that presents both sides of this debate and the reasoning behind the edit. It's insightful, and the catalyst was not a whacked political correctness campaign, as one might think. I admit, I was quick to jump to that conclusion.
It's a timely topic. At least it is for me. I started reading Huck Finn less than a week ago, simply because it's a classic and I had never read it.
Who knew.
