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"Huckleberry Finn" and the N-word

June 12, 2011 4:59 PM

A Southern publisher's sanitized edition of "Huckleberry Finn" that replaces the N-word with "slave" over 200 times is the focal point for a debate on the use of the controversial word in American society. Byron Pitts reports.

"Huckleberry Finn" and the N-word

60 Minutes OverTimeThe "N-word": Is it ever okay to say it?

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by jawanlajohnson May 16, 2013 1:09 PM EDT
I am African American and I think that this book should be taught. For so many years we have placed a band-aid on this subject. It is a real part of our history and our children deserve to know. Racism is still a very real thing even in this day and age. Stop hiding from words and face them.
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by sthames42 June 19, 2011 6:15 PM EDT
I am a white man of 48 from Texas, originally. My mother was a southern belle with a pathological aversion to racism so I grew up with a real hatred for the word "******". As an adult, I found less love for the word after gaining the understanding its origin lay in the illiterate nature of my own ancestors who were unable to correctly pronounce the word "negro"--the Spanish word for "black".

And yet, I agree with professor Bradley. Mark Twain clearly wanted to show that the word was intrinsically woven into the American vernacular, as a generic reference to members of the black race, but was no deterrent to the relationship between Huck and Jim. The book's controversial impact for its use of the "n-word" certainly warrants maintaining the original writing--to say nothing of the hubris required in editing one of America's greatest writers of the period.

When I asked my 12-year old son if replacing the word "******" with "slave" would give the book more or less impact, he said more because "slave" is more degrading. In surprise, I asked why he thought so and he said "****** isn't even really bad, anymore, Dad. Black people call each other that."

While my son does not have a racist bone, he has grown up in white suburbia so his exposure to the black community is limited to popular entertainment--primarily music. This is a medium increasingly influenced by a formerly enslaved people intent on separating the n-word from it's ugly, ugly roots and celebrating it's symbolism of black community.

Huckleberry Finn was published in America in 1885 and, while fictional, was representative of life in those times when no southerner was ashamed to call a black man "******". Mr. Randall apparently wants to assuage his guilt by rewriting this history and that is a step onto a very slippery slope.

Slavery in America ended in 1865 but racism against blacks did not. Trade the word "******" for "slave" in any writings of the period and you intimate our treatment of blacks as sub-human ended with the civil war. The struggle for equality for the black community has come far but, until all traces of this racism are gone, writings like those of Mr. Twain, in their original form, will remain vital to understanding this struggle.

My son will one day read the original Huckleberry Finn, probably at my insistence. From it he will learn his history includes institutionalized racial bias and it is nothing to be proud of, he will learn of two young boys becoming friends despite society's taboos, and he will begin to appreciate one of our greatest storytellers. Mr. Randall's politically correct version would not have the impact Mr. Clemens intended.
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by westwingjack June 14, 2011 10:44 AM EDT
You have to hand it to Twain. The very fact that we are engaged in this critical conversation demonstrates the fact that this remains an essential issue in our society--despite what far too many Americans believe.For those of you that don't "get" Twain, read his essay "The United States of Lyncherdom"--a piece that he wrote to the lynching that were occuring in the South.
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by tlbblt1983 June 14, 2011 12:17 AM EDT
Wow. It's amazing to me that so many people miss the point. Look not at the word, "******," but rather at the characters in the book that use this word. Those that use this word are ignorant white trash... Huck very much included, at least at the beginning. The use of the word tells on THEM, not on blacks. Who is the truest, most honest person in this book? Jim, the run-away slave. Some of the most powerful scenes in the book deal with Huck coming around to the idea that Jim is a PERSON, not a non-entity, which is what Huck has always been taught. It is firmly entrenched in Huck's beliefs that although he is a lower class boy, he is better than Jim, a black adult who happens to be a slave.

However, Twain artfully crafts Huck's change. First is the powerful scene where Huck tricks Jim after being separated in the fog, trying to make Jim believe it had all been a dream. Jim is hurt, and Huck goes and "humbles himself to a ******," something that would be unthinkable to all whites in that area, including the adults who had been trying to "sivilize" Huck. As the book progresses, Huck uses the word less and less as he comes to the realization that Jim is a person and a friend. He says to Jim, "They're after us," allying himself with the run-away slave, again something unthinkable.

The crowning moment is when he writes a letter to Miss Watson, telling her where she can find Jim. Everything Huck has ever been taught tells him this is the right thing to do. However, after Huck writes the letter, he remembers how Jim has been such a good friend, the only person who has ever really cared about Huck and loved him for who he is, and Huck cannot go through with it. "I'll go to hell," Huck asserts as he rips up the letter. He truly believes he will go to hell for standing by Jim, but to him, it is worth it to stand by the only one who has loved him unconditionally. Twain is challenging all of us to rethink what we have been taught.

Let's look at the whites, shall we? The Widow Douglas and Miss Watson try to "sivilize" Huck, demanding that he fit the form of society, even though he has been living on his own most of his life and has no idea about their rules. Pap abuses Huck and wants to be in his son's life solely for the money he can get. Then you have the devious Duke and King, feuding families killing each other, and adults who just want to use each other to get what they want. Even Tom Sawyer regards making up a fanciful game as more important than Jim's comfort and life.

The hero of this story, the one portrayed in the most positive light, is Jim. The term, "******," does nothing to demean the person most exalted in the book, but does everything to shed light on the ignorant people that use that word. Yet somehow this book is deemed racist.

Mark Twain was a master of satire, people. Read deeper than the word. Read deeper.
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by Ginevra1 June 13, 2011 11:00 PM EDT
David Bradley is absolutely brilliant; in literature, it's not about being "politically correct"; it's about portraying the reality of a situation to teach a lesson or bring on an emotion in order to reach a conclusion or come to a realization; a particular word does that - it evokes a feeling, and sometimes in order to learn a lesson a feeling needs to be felt in order to understand. It's not in avoidance that we learn but through immersing ourselves. How can anyone think of changing a masterpiece? How offensive to Mark Twain. I can't believe it's even allowed.
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by poldago June 13, 2011 3:37 PM EDT
As a young airman stationed in Arkanas in the early sixtes, I picked and pulled cotten for eatra food and treats. I said, can you help me? And they they did. I knew the black people as colored and negros. Negro is or was the French pronouncation for black. As a honkey raised in Western NY. I was suprised at different rest rooms and eating. Now in the cold war skin color was not at all important. Can you do the job? was all that mattered. I didn't read this book until this year my 73rd year. The only time I headr was when other brothers were calling were calling themselves n*****ers. Until you have been to the Old South, keep nasty opinions to your self.
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by GiveNun June 13, 2011 12:29 PM EDT
I wonder why the NEGRO Byron Pitts was selected to do this segment of a show that IMHO is riddled with RACISM.

FACT: That word N--er, is a word that is intended to demean and demoralize a major segment of the world's population. It has no value and does nothing to improve communications between people.

I notice that 60 Minutes have never done a show on vanishing racial and nationality demeaning terms such as, and forgive me for using these words, Kike(Jew), Deigo(Italian), ****(Mexican-Hispanic-Latino), Honkey(White), Krout(German), Limie(British), Fraug (French), Slope (Asian), Beaner (Mexican), Cracker(Poor White Person) **********(Poorly educated White), Mick(Irish), **** (Vietnamese), ***** (Chinese), *******(Mexican).

And remember the "N word" is not a word, it is a social concept of a person's status in the society. It means null and void of value.

The fact that people have been fired from TV shows, BLACK PEOPLE OF COURSE, for using the word *** which has been re-designated as an insult to a person's sexual preference is intreguing. Additionally, there is also the new outrage at using a word that is considered offensive to women, the B- word. But is it acceptable for 60 Minutes to use the N word with the "joy of true expression". The Klan must be so please 60 Minute.

So forgive my confusion at 60 Minutes obvious desire to re-insert the N word into broadcast language, when they avoid using the B word. Seems using a word that is offensive to a woman's attitude, should be much more acceptable then using a word that is intended to be offensive to a major portion of the world's population.

Also the use of the word indicates ignorance on the part of the user. The word is a mispronunciation of the Spanish word "Negro". And for Mr. Pitts' education, the word ****** was not a word that Africans imposed upon themselves, it is a word that was forced on them by racist bigots.

So Mr. Pitts and your most likely WHITE producers, how about doing a show on highly intelligent Negroes, like member of MENSA, oh but you did, but failed to air that segment which was filmed in Denver, Co. Or maybe you can do a show on Wiggers, you know, White people who want to be N words.

Finally Mr. Pitts, you are not old enough to fully understand the impact the N word had on people when it was used by White police officers as they struck "******" with night sticks or fired bullets into their flesh, you should go out and fully experience racism before you allow yourself to be party to an attempt by BIGOTS, RACISTS, FASCISTS, to revitalize the use of such a disgusting term.
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by proptwins June 13, 2011 3:11 AM EDT
HUCKLEBERRY FINN is not a history textbook. It does however accurately describe parts of life during a dark time in our nations history. When history is censored or sterilized, regardless of the reason the lessons history has to teach us become less accurate. Without accuracy the impact these lessons should have on us all is reduced or even lost. History has a way of repeating itself until humans remember the lessons. Sadly, humans have a short memory span.
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by davidperi June 13, 2011 3:03 AM EDT
The other word I donīt particularily like to hear is: the "F" word.
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by Valhalla0907 June 12, 2011 11:04 PM EDT
We can't edit every author's word choice in fiction! A lot of African-Americans don't like the portrayal of slaves in "Gone with the Wind", but the book was very different. In an academic situation where the book is required reading, one would expect the student to be able to handle the material. And discuss it in an adult manner. The N-word may be the last true cuss word in American English.
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