Schmuck Finn

There isn't much politically that Geno and I disagree on, except for the intricacies of the freedom of speech.  Generally I'm all for it, even when I find the speech to be horrible, hateful and disagreeable.  Generally Geno is for it too, except for when it inches too close to being racist, sexist and hateful speech; then he wants the perps put on lock down.  (Please note that I'm not down with hate speech, but seem to have a higher threshold for the ugly than he does.)  This has made for some very lively kitchen table debates over the years.

Imagine then, my surprise, when I found myself not being outraged by the recent revisions Prof. Alan Gribben made to Mark Twain's classic, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."  Gribben went through the book, and changed all 219 mentions of the n-word to slave.  It's not that I think it's necessarily a good idea, but for a book that is one of the most frequently banned in schools and libraries, I wonder if this new version might create the opportunity for youth to read it that otherwise might not do so.  It's too early to tell if high schools that would not allow the original "Huck Finn" to be taught in their classrooms will embrace this new version, but I just keep on wondering if it's a possibility.  (The caveat I'd like to throw out there, however, is that any teaching of this book absolutely should address the issues of slavery and racism, and the historical attitudes towards both.)

I think that perhaps my new found tolerance for what many are calling censorship, is that while this is a freedom of speech issue, it also feels like a question of compromise.  The older I get, the more I see facets of life that require us to give up something in order to move towards a larger goal.  Believe me, I can be hardheaded and even strident when it comes to some of my beliefs, but aren't there some times when you have to tiptoe out onto that slippery slope, despite the risk? 

Discuss amongst yourselves...