So this evening I stumbled across an article on newsday.com, Teacher Wants to Expel Huck Finn, which disturbed me greatly and sent me on a furious rampage about the ignorance of people, even these days.

Joel Foley, a middle-aged high school English teacher from Portland, Oregon, believes it would be prudent to remove classic American literature such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Of Mice and Men from the curriculum. While he’s not trying to ban the novels, (I can hardly even believe that book banning still goes on these days), any censorship of these works undermines the progression towards equality we as a society have made.

Foley says, “Barack Obama is president-elect of the United States, and novels that use the ‘N-word’ repeatedly need to go.” Personally I think President Obama, being a highly intelligent man, understands that Twain and Lee are not endorsing the use of the “n-word,” simply staying true to the historical context in which their work was written. Unfortunately, that was the way people spoke in Alabama during the earlier part of the 20^th century. Nothing makes it right, but that’s how it was.

Walking on egg shells around a controversial word or concept gives it the opportunity to gain further power and legitimacy. Works like “Finn” and “Mockingbird” are so wonderful because they highlight the exact things people like Foley are trying to point out by censoring the novels: the dangers of racism, prejudice, and the eminent tragedies and downfalls in store when people fail to respect their fellow man. Being able to take a step back and discuss these works, racial inequities included, like a piece of art or history is the BEST solution to this problem of injustice. Exposing Bob Ewell’s rampant prejudice or Huck’s substandard treatment of Jim for what it is, misgivings and actions influenced by an ill-informed America of the past, will open more eyes than shutting away timeless works.