The soporific argument over whether Twain was or was not a racist has forced
me to examine some of the other books I have lying around here and the
results are nothing short of astounding.
1. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote negatively about a visually challenged
amputee.
2. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson compounded his felony by his
equally
negative portrayal of a man who, in modern parlance, was mentally
exceptional.
3. Charles Dickens wrote patronizingly of a physically challenged youth.
4. Victor Hugo's portrayal of Quasimodo, the exceptionally shaped person,
was
as patronizing as that of Tiny Tim.
5. Sophocles' treatment of Oedipus, a survivor of incest, not to mention
self-mutilation, certainly was less than sensitive.
6. Swift, in his negative portrayals of Lilliputians and Brobdingnagians
certainly tipped his soiled sizist scoundrel hand.
7. Johanna Spyri failed to empower Ms. Heidi, thereby fostering stereotypes
of gender, an obviously anti-feminist gesture.
8. Kate Douglas Wiggin similarly failed to sufficiently empower Rebecca,
another anti-feminist move.
9. Carl Sandburg's celebration of Chicago as _hog butcher to the world_
certainly shows him to be an anti-animals rights activist and most likely an
anti-environmentalist.
10. Rostand's depiction of Cyrano was an obvious slap at the nasally gifted.
In short, we must look anew at _the canon_ and root out the evils lurking
therein. As responsible people, we must look beyond Twain and his gang of
accomplices to search out every bit of perceptible bias in all the works of
literature in all the world. After the bonfire, we can start in on either
art
or music. Wagner might be a good starting point.

Marc Koechig