Stephen, just a few words of appreciation for your observations on
"Huckleberry Finn," which to my mind perfectly capture and summarize the
tricky, frustrating admixture of racist and fiercely anti-racist elements
in both the book and its author: the power and humanity of the raft scenes
on one hand, and on the other the regrettable minstrelsy & stereotyping in
the "Evasion" chapters, where, as you put it so eloquently, "the novel
betrays Jim, its anti-racist agenda, and its own greatness."

For the good stuff a lot of credit must go to the abolitionist Langdon
family, who somehow managed to achieve a wondrous transformation in the
unapologetic racist who came a-courting their daughter in 1868. But even
they couldn't work miracles, and for Twain, throwing in a little "darky"
humor must have looked like an obvious & perfectly OK way to get to the end
of a novel that was still refusing to finish itself after 10 years of work.

Damn shame, though. And it does leave us Twain lovers, and especially the
educators among us, with a real mess on our hands.


On Sat, Mar 27, 2021, 1:49 PM Railton, Stephen F (sfr) <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> I hope you'll let me respond to two different threads.
> First, the electronic archive Mark Twain In His Times has quite a few
> different texts from his various lectures and tours at
> https://twain.lib.virginia.edu/onstage/lectures.html
>
> But the question about racism is obviously more important, for our culture
> and for Twain's future place within it.
> As perhaps some of you already know, I've been arguing for a long time
> that Huck Finn -- the novel; the boy obviously has the racist beliefs of
> his culture, which is the basis on which Twain builds his ironic narrative
> -- that HF is AND isn't racist: that while many if not all of the scenes on
> the raft challenge America's racist preconceptions, at a number of points
> -- and especially during the Evasion -- the novel perpetuates the racist
> stereotypes that grew from slavery and that still haunt our society.  I
> realize I've had very little success getting most of the Twain community to
> agree.  But here I want to underline two things, that may help carry our
> conversation forward:
>
> The U.S. was "racist" when Sam Clemens was a kid, and racist in 1885 when
> HF was published, and it is still deeply if now more insiduously  and
> unconsciously racist in 2021.  I recognize that as someone who grew up in
> the U.S. I still have my share of unconscious racism -- how could I not,
> having for example grown up in a city (Elgin Ill in the 50s) with a 10%
> population of blacks whom I never saw, while watching hours of TV and
> movies where blacks were depicted in the stereotypical ways that make white
> America comfortable.  But of course the U.S. is also struggling to outgrow
> racism, to be the truly democratic society our principles declare it to
> be.  And to me, that's the wonderful thing about Huck Finn -- that it
> racist and anti-racist, like our culture then and now, and so can hold a
> really powerful mirror up to the best and worst about ourselves.  Could
> Mark Twain have been so beloved as a figure in our culture if he didn't
> know how to give white audiences what they wanted?  That his work often
> transcends their appetites is why we spend so much of our lives reading and
> thinking about him.
>
> Second: for that reason I want HF to remain part of the curriculum, though
> teachers should not teach it unless they are prepared to consciously
> confront the extreme discomfort the novel can cause, and prepared with
> their students to look closely at both the novel's best moments and the
> ways in which the novel betrays Jim, its anti-racist agenda, and its own
> greatness.  But I think that as long as such a large part of the Twain
> community keeps insisting that the problem with HF is in the minds of the
> readers who don't know how to read it, rather than also in its text and in
> our culture, the days of Twain's place in the curriculum are numbered.  To
> me, HF is about the best occasion we have to have the discussion about
> slavery and racism that we always keep deferring as a culture, and the high
> school or college classroom is the best place to have that discussion.  But
> as a discussion, the conversation has to acknowledge what is admonitory as
> well as what is exemplary, where HF should appall us as well as where it
> should delight and inspire us.  I'm sorry I wrote so much, but as you can
> tell, all this means a lot to me.  I think it means a lot to our culture
> too.  Thanks for listening, Steve Railton  (Emeritus Prof of English, Univ
> of Virginia)
>
>
> MT as Lecturer - twain.lib.virginia.edu<
> https://twain.lib.virginia.edu/onstage/lectures.html>
> "The Trouble Begins at 8:00" MT began his career as a platform entertainer
> out West, after he'd achieved notoriety as a newspaper writer. When he
> began speaking in the East, he worried about how to meet the expectations
> of audiences who loved to listen to oratory, but whose tastes had been
> formed by lyceum lectures.
> twain.lib.virginia.edu
>
> ________________________________
> From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of John R. Pascal <
> [log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2021 1:07 PM
> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Fwd: Regarding "the 'N' word" in Huck Finn
>
> Last line, I meant to say, “I certainly don’t KNOW any of the political
> and administrative . . .”
> It’s Saturday, time to be outside!!
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > From: "John R. Pascal" <[log in to unmask]>
> > Subject: Re: Regarding "the 'N' word" in Huck Finn
> > Date: March 27, 2021 at 1:02:48 PM EDT
> > To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
> >
> > Hi Alan,
> > I neither could nor would comment on any students outside of my own,
> except to say that it is a shame from what you say that apparently they do
> not at least try to exercise an open mind to just listen to as many facts
> as possible and then make a better informed educated decision.  Teaching
> difficult subjects is never easy, but the students do want the truth to be
> presented, as you indeed know.
> > As you are aware, every teacher and every classroom demographic is
> different, so I can’t comment any more on this portion.
> > I only know what works for me.
> > In addition to the information I already gave, I also reference Dr.
> Shelley Fisher Fishkin’s works, Lighting Out for the Territory Reflections
> on Mark Twain and American Culture, and Was Huck Black? Mark Twain and
> African American Voices.
> > I do not know what you mean by “Seton Hall has a budget to do that.”
> Critical Companion and Dr. Fishkin’s books are my personal property, along
> with Dr. Fishkin’s works.  They are on my classroom desk and my students do
> thumb through them.  Any research I do, like any teacher, is on my own time
> without renumeration; I wouldn’t ask anyway.  It’s part of my expected
> professional development.
> > Also, we do use the Signet Classic paperback edition of Huckleberry Finn
> and it contains three other major American works.  But I loan my students
> my copies of the definitive edition of HF published from the Mark Twain
> Project that I myself have paid for without asking for school
> reimbursement.  The students can highlight in them and the definitive
> edition’s explanatory notes, maps, and illustrations are appreciated by
> them.
> >
> > I am sorry I don’t have any ready suggestions to launch a funding effort
> or find additional grants for your Twain Live series.  Perhaps the alumni
> of Trenton HS could be solicited for supporting the series for the sake of
> the current students, but I certainly don’t any of the political and
> administrative ramifications in this regard.
> >
> > John
> >
> >> On Mar 27, 2021, at 11:22 AM, Alan Kitty <[log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
> >>
> >> John- When asked, Trenton HS students will agree with an assessment
> that HF, and by extension MT, is racist. I know of no deep dive into
> related material that could change that perception. I have even offered to
> place Twain himself In the line of fire. But as a practical matter Seton
> Hall has a budget to do that. Urban public schools do not.
> >>
> >> We lack staff to launch a funding effort or find additional grants for
> our Twain Live series.
> >>
> >> Suggestions?
> >>
> >> Alan Kitty
> >> Mark Twain Education Society
> >>
> >> Don’t ask ‘for whom the bell tolls’. It’s your email and no one else
> cares.
> >>
> >> Sent from my iPhone
> >>
> >>> On Mar 27, 2021, at 11:04 AM, John R. Pascal <[log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Hi Mr. Shannon,
> >>> I can only offer my own classroom experience in teaching Huckleberry
> Finn in the last fourteen years to high school juniors.
> >>> I take effective time with them to review Dr. R. Kent Rasmussen’s
> entries in his Critical Companion as to the N-word, slavery, African
> Americans, pertinent portions of Twain’s life showing his changing views on
> slavery, the history of the work’s reception by the public (they laugh at
> Concord Public Library’s reaction and cheer at Twain’s reaction to it), and
> his helping to pay for the Yale University Law School education of Walter
> T. McGuinn.  In short, showing that Twain and his opus are not racist.
> >>> If you haven’t already done so, may I suggest you read his entries
> that are excellently comprehensive and enlightening.
> >>> I also offer that some musical rap artists use the word in their
> works, and apparently there is little outcry in contrast to that of
> Huckleberry Finn. I suggest that this is the price of free speech in our
> society.
> >>> Additionally, I put forth that the oral reading and discussion of the
> word is strictly in an academic context.  Nothing more.
> >>> I ask that they only think and reflect on all I have shown them,
> particularly when they know that all this information is certainly not
> generally known in most, if any, high schools in our country.  This is
> giving them the very much needed “big picture."
> >>> Finally I state that if anyone has any problem with the word for any
> or even no reason, just to tell me privately and without question it won’t
> be used.
> >>> As a result, I am fortunate to say that they are fine with reading and
> discussing Huckleberry Finn as it is, and when a student just says “N-word”
> when reading the dialogue, I do not correct him at all.  In a classroom in
> which respect is paramount for each student, no one gives a taunting remark.
> >>> If any teacher can’t teach the work because of this word, then I would
> urge them to certainly use the NewSouth publication that changes the word
> to “slave."
> >>> Lastly, they are shocked and appalled that Huckleberry Finn has been
> banned in some school districts.  In fact, I warn them that they at best
> attend local public Board of Education Meetings.  It is likely that their
> own younger siblings and one day their own children will come home and be
> told they can’t read a book in school because a small number of parents
> complained.  The Board easily avoids a lawsuit by simply changing the book
> selection, and then the majority of parents find out after it is too late.
> >>> You could go to the American Library Association’s website of banned
> books.  The titles and reasons might shock you as well.
> >>>
> >>> Respectfully,
> >>> John Pascal
> >>> Seton Hall Preparatory School
> >>> West Orange, NJ
> >>>
> >>>> On Mar 27, 2021, at 8:39 AM, Clay Shannon <[log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> I have vacillated a little over the years regarding what I thought
> about "the 'N' word" being used in Twain's magnum opus, Adventures of
> Huckleberry Finn.
> >>>>
> >>>> For the most part, I have been for remaining true to the original
> (rather than replacing it with the word "slave" or something else), and
> educating people about why the word was used by Twain in that book, and how
> common it was then, etc.
> >>>> In the same way, I don't like it when historical movies/tv shows have
> people using "the 'F' word" and other anachronisms when that word was
> rarely, if ever, used in the time and place being depicted. The "excuse"
> the apologists of such usage give is that if they were to be completely
> precise as to how people spoke back then, their vitriol would not be
> conveyed, but rather sound like something grandma might say when she
> dropped her thimble. I think for the most part it's preferable to either
> give the audience the benefit of the doubt or educate them, so that they
> understand the import and impact of what is being said, even if it sounds
> quaint or even comical to some today.
> >>>> However, something occurred yesterday that gave me pause regarding
> "the 'N' word" in Huck Finn:
> >>>> I have a very good friend who is "black." We have been discussing
> literature (via the mail) a litt/e lately. He recently read "Huck Finn" (he
> liked it a lot). After a little back and forth about it, this is what he
> had to say in yesterday's letter:
> >>>>
> >>>> ///As for Mark Twain, I agree. He DOES NOT promote slavery. I think
> people have more of an issue with the "n" word. I'm all for historical
> accuracy in literature and in fiction but the issue is, should it be read
> in schools?
> >>>> If I was the only black kid in a white classroom could you imagine
> the embarrassment I'd feel if we read the "n" word over and over and over
> again? Or worse, what they would call me at recess?///
> >>>> That was an epiphany for me. Perhaps this is a case where "the
> perfect is the enemy of the good," as there are probably two possibilities
> for Huck Finn being available in the classroom henceforth:
> >>>> 1) The "N" word is replaced with something else, maybe "slave" or
> "negro" (perhaps with an explanation in the foreword and/or verbally by the
> teacher at the start of the class reading it as to why "the 'N' word" was
> used in the original, and why it is being replaced)2) It's not available at
> all
> >>>> Perhaps replacing the problematic word may, after all, be more in the
> spirit of what Twain wrote. In this instance, although it would not be a
> completely precise version of the book (if "the 'N' word" were expurgated),
> it would be the kind thing to do, considering how it might affect some of
> the hearers/readers.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> - B. Clay Shannon
> >
>