Censorship of Huckleberry Finn??

Essay by CarltheproducerHigh School, 11th gradeB+, March 2003

download word file, 2 pages 3.0

The definition of banning a book goes like this it's either to dangerous, rude, offensive, and foul to be shared with the public. We are here to discuss the matter of Huckleberry Finn and should it be banned from public schools. The first amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances".

1.Many people claim that the book is racist, because of the word "nigger", which is used numerous times throughout the novel. Some also claim that African Americans and other people are portrayed wrongly.

2. Columnist James J. Kilpatrick wrote that Huck Finn is "a fun book for white boys to read. For black children, I have come to realize, it is a brutal slap in the face."

3.Many school districts have banned this book for the use of nigger.

4.Some people pretend that race no longer plays an important role in our country; other people still believe that there are serious racial dilemmas in the United States.

5.The book most frequently banned in the United States is from Banned in the U.S.A by Herbert N. Foerstel (Greenwood Press, 1994) was Huckleberry Finn that placed 4th.

6.Since the late 1950s, twain's repeated use of the word "nigger" in the novel has inspired most attempts to ban it from school classrooms. People for the American Way's September 1996 report, Attacks on the Freedom to Learn, lists Huckleberry Finn among the most frequently challenged books of 1995-1996.

7.Chris Frank, Grade 7, says "One of the great classics that I read was, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn...