I thought America was supposed to be the land of dreams. Where people from all over the world come for a better opportunity and to gain freedom that may not have been available in their native country.

Well, after recent events and headlines, I’m not so sure America is headed in the right direction anymore.

The news broke about NewSouth Books, a publishing company in Alabama (of all ironic places) and its plans to censor one of the most famous Mark Twain novels- Huckleberry Finn.

The company plans to change the word “nigger”, which appears 219 times, to the word “slave”. 

When I heard this, the only thing I could think was how much of a ludicrous idea it was to change this classic piece of American literature.

Is the word used a lot in the novel? Yes. Was the word used often in the time period the novel was written? Yes. Is Huckleberry Finn the fourth most banned book in America? Yes. Do all of these facets take away from it being an excellent novel? Absolutely not.

Replacing the “n” word with the word “slave” would be the equivalent of reading a book set and written in the 1920s and the main character answers their cell phone. It is ridiculous. The characters use the same lexicon that was used during the time the book was set in.

Granted, some of you may not care one way or the other, but because I am an avid reader, I am disgusted by the idea to change another writer’s work for the sake of making some feel more comfortable.

And that’s exactly what the company aims to do- make those reading or teaching it, more comfortable while in a classroom setting.

There are two sides to this story. The first side is from a teacher’s perspective. I read Huckleberry Finn in middle school, with a Caucasian teacher, who also was uncomfortable saying the “n” word while reading the novel.

How did we get past it? She simply told the class to not say the word while reading out loud and asked how I felt about it.

At the time, I did not care if another student said the word while reading a piece of literature and my standpoint has not changed since.

I would hope at some point in every black student’s maturity they understand the definition of the “n” word and why not to get upset over it.

The argument of teachers not being able to read/teach the book(s) in the classroom because of the discomfort is an excuse. Buckle down on students; tell them the truth behind the terms.

The other side is from a student’s perspective.  They deserve to read this novel as was written, by Mark Twain.

Let them experience these great novels for themselves. Don’t take that experience from students too.

It is one thing if students were using the language openly during a classroom discussion. But this is a novel that has been revered as one of the best in American history.

Twain, wrote the novel during a time when the nation was split between race. He dared to write a work that explored the race lines.

Huckleberry Finn takes us on an adventure between a run-away boy, Huck, and a slave, turned best friend to Huck, Jim.

The course of the novel shows how a young boy and a black runaway slave man became dependent on each other and how their friendship unfolds.

Why chance the wording of the book? Just focus on the lessons it teaches to students.

This company and its supporters are missing the primary situation in this case. To quote the L.A. Times, the company should remember that “literature, after all, is not there to reassure us; it’s supposed to reveal us, in all our contradictory complexity.

The fact that it makes us uncomfortable is part of the point — like all great art, it demands that we confront our half-truths and self-deceptions, the justifications and evasions by which we measure out our daily lives.”

Besides the lessons of the book, it seems that this is one of the steps taken in order to erase slavery from America’s history.

The word was perfectly okay and normal when yelled at blacks in the earlier years of last century, but now it’s not okay to appear in a novel that was written over 125 years ago.

Racism did and still exists in this nation. It’s a part of history. And if you do not know your history, you are doomed to repeat it…

All this is not even to mention the lack of authority given to the publishing company from Mark Twain.

We have laws that prevent a person from writing a sequel to a book without permission from the person with rights to the original book. But we’re going to sit back and allow a company to completely change the language in this book and others? It just doesn’t sit well with me.

Unfortunately, this is a time when I am disappointed in my nation. If this company continues with its plan of releasing a censored version of Huckleberry Finn next month, America has taken a step towards becoming the same world as the novel Fahrenheit 451.

I love reading books just as much as the next person, but I do not want to live in a society that makes conscious steps in making the real world the same as that of a fiction book.

 

• Jasmine Johnson