A Few Words In Defense of the N-Word, in the Novels of Mark Twain

Lumi · Jan 8, 2011

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]A Few Words In Defense of the N-Word, in the Novels of Mark Twain[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]by Mikhail Lyubansky
[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]OpEd News[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Well, here's a piece I never imagined myself writing: A defense of a white man's use of the N-word.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]I want to start with a little back-story: I don't use the N-word. Not ever. But I used to, not so long ago. I used it in the context of talking about racism in my psychology of race and ethnicity course and only when quoting the written words of scholars and prominent historical figures. I stopped (about 5 years ago) after several students told me that hearing the word, even in this context, was painful for them. I stopped because it was clear to me that the students were sincere and because I thought I could teach the content just as well by saying "N-word".[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]I haven't questioned this choice since then, but ever since the Huck Finn story broke, I've been doing just that. See, all of the students who complained that hearing "nigger" in class was painful were white and so it seems is the vast proportion of people who a) kept Huckleberry Finn off the school curriculum and b) like the idea of a "cleaner" version of Mark Twain's novel.[/FONT]

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[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Now I don't want to over-stress this point. The feelings and needs of white people matter too. It's why I switched to using "N-word" in my class. But the source of the discomfort is not irrelevant either. For one, it suggests whose needs are being considered and served by the given act. As far as I can tell, the new (edited) edition of Huck Finn is primarily designed to serve the needs of white conservatives. This too is okay, as long as we acknowledge that this is what's happening and not pretend that this is some kind of racially progressive act that will improve the lives of people of color.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]It's more complicated than that, of course. In a recent opinion piece in the New York Times, law professor Paul Butler (who is Black) wrote[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]"I suffered through Huckleberry Finn in high school, with the white kids going out of their way to say "Nigger Jim" and the teacher's tortured explanation that Twain's "nigger" didn't really mean n-word, or meant it ironically, or historically, or symbolically. Whatever."[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]No doubt Butler's experiences were not unusual for either his time or today, and I wouldn't wish them on anyone. Student racial insensitivity and teacher discomfort with both our country's racist past and contemporary racial inequity are serious problems requiring thoughtful strategies. I just happen to think that the strategy of removing racially objectionable content cannot possibly be effective in anything other than eliminating discomfort, and I am becoming increasingly convinced that, from an educational standpoint, the elimination of discomfort is counterproductive.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Read the rest of the article[/FONT][/FONT]

hedgehog · Jan 8, 2011

be careful posting stuff like this :shrug:

Lumi · Jan 8, 2011

why ?

hedgehog · Jan 8, 2011

Just sayin. :shrug:

Lumi · Jan 8, 2011

I'm just posting a story about PC clensing of an American Classic.

If this BS continues, then all that horse shit what some people consider music :shrug: , Rap Crap should be clensed as well.

Lumi · Jan 8, 2011

No ne else has the stones to post these contoversial topics.

They would rather throw rocks at me because I have.

Fire away !

THE KOD · Jan 8, 2011

President Obama is planning to hand the U.S. Commerce Department authority over a forthcoming cybersecurity effort to create an Internet ID for Americans, a White House official said here today.

It's "the absolute perfect spot in the U.S. government" to centralize efforts toward creating an "identity ecosystem" for the Internet, White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt said.

That news, first reported by CNET, effectively pushes the department to the forefront of the issue, beating out other potential candidates including the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. The move also is likely to please privacy and civil liberties groups that have raised concerns in the past over the dual roles of police and intelligence agencies.

The announcement came at an event today at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, where U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Schmidt spoke.

The Obama administration is currently drafting what it's calling the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, which Locke said will be released by the president in the next few months. (An early version was publicly released last summer.)

"We are not talking about a national ID card," Locke said at the Stanford event. "We are not talking about a government-controlled system. What we are talking about is enhancing online security and privacy and reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorize a dozen passwords, through creation and use of more trusted digital identities."
The Commerce Department will be setting up a national program office to work on this project, Locke said.

Details about the "trusted identity" project are unusually scarce. Last year's announcement referenced a possible forthcoming smart card or digital certificate that would prove that online users are who they say they are. These digital IDs would be offered to consumers by online vendors for financial transactions.

Schmidt stressed today that anonymity and pseudonymity will remain possible on the Internet. "I don't have to get a credential if I don't want to," he said. There's no chance that "a centralized database will emerge," and "we need the private sector to lead the implementation of this," he said.

Inter-agency rivalries to claim authority over cybersecurity have exited ever since many responsibilities were centralized in the Department of Homeland Security as part of its creation nine years ago. Three years ago, proposals were were circulating in Washington to transfer authority to the secretive NSA, which is part of the U.S. Defense Department.

In March 2009, Rod Beckstrom, director of Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity Center, resigned through a letter that gave a rare public glimpse into the competition for budgetary dollars and cybersecurity authority. Beckstrom said at the time that the NSA "effectively controls DHS cyber efforts through detailees, technology insertions," and has proposed moving some functions to the agency's Fort Meade, Md., headquarters.
...............................................................

can hardly wait for this one to go into affect.

:SIB

Lumi · Jan 8, 2011

So how do you think they will do it Dog King ?

Face Scan, Thumb Print, DNA Marker?

What does this have to do with the original topic?

Please feel free to add to that.

Be back in 3 hours, many tasks to do, to include booting a squatter off a rental property !

Like I have a farts chance in a whirl wind In CA to win that ? :mj07:

How's your nugget?

Your wife ok?

When you decide to put on your big boy pants, I would like to send you some good info.

Ask TU and Hog if I bombard them

Peas KOD

THE KOD · Jan 8, 2011

illuminati said:
So how do you think they will do it Dog King ?

Face Scan, Thumb Print, DNA Marker?

What does this have to do with the original topic?

Please feel free to add to that.

..................................................................

They will make you register online.

It would be pretty easy to do actually.

I get bored with some of your topics.

If you would refuse to register due to constitutional rights then I would have to consider you a right wing california nutter.

:SIB :SIB

Chadman · Jan 8, 2011

This is an issue I'll have to deal with in the coming years. Many classics of literature have these words and themes in them, and I'll have to have a strong justification for what I choose to teach, and why. If I have the choices, which in some schools, I may not.

Tough call - I can't stand that word, and others. But these books were written in a different time, when those things were commonplace and a part of the historical record. It would always be important to present the context of the material, and my feelings about it, as well as consider the feelings of students and parents. To a degree.

Lumi · Jan 8, 2011

Chadman said:
This is an issue I'll have to deal with in the coming years. Many classics of literature have these words and themes in them, and I'll have to have a strong justification for what I choose to teach, and why. If I have the choices, which in some schools, I may not.

Tough call - I can't stand that word, and others. But these books were written in a different time, when those things were commonplace and a part of the historical record. It would always be important to present the context of the material, and my feelings about it, as well as consider the feelings of students and parents. To a degree.

Well said Chad,

we cannot let certain words in certain contexts dictate the way we think and believe.

It's not like the Novels are published by Stormfront, it's Mark Twain. Are we now going to re-write history and eliminate all literary works that use this term? Why do you think all Bugs Bunny Cartoons are off the air? Song of the South has been off the shelves for over 10 years.

This PC bullshit is what creates more hatred and animosity, not heal it.

Lumi · Jan 8, 2011

THE KOD said:
..................................................................

They will make you register online.

It would be pretty easy to do actually.

I get bored with some of your topics.

I'm not here to entertain you, get a dog, or fluffy's phone number

If you would refuse to register due to constitutional rights then I would have to consider you a right wing california nutter

Why would you consider me a right wing nutter because I refuse a bio-metric scan?

.:SIB :SIB

You can follow all the Violations of the Constitution you want, be a sheep, step right up.

THE KOD · Jan 8, 2011

illuminati said:
You can follow all the Violations of the Constitution you want, be a sheep, step right up.

................................................................

are you calling DTBlackgumby a sheep

He is willing to give out all his personal info
so he cant label himself a troll

copywright issues dude.

i bet you dont even know you were already a part of it.

Old School · Jan 8, 2011

Chadman said:
This is an issue I'll have to deal with in the coming years. Many classics of literature have these words and themes in them, and I'll have to have a strong justification for what I choose to teach, and why. If I have the choices, which in some schools, I may not.

Tough call - I can't stand that word, and others. But these books were written in a different time, when those things were commonplace and a part of the historical record. It would always be important to present the context of the material, and my feelings about it, as well as consider the feelings of students and parents. To a degree.

and IF we educate our children from birth they are quite capable of understanding where..when and how the word should be used and within what context..

we can't asked our educators to tell the story of this country and NOT explain how this horrible word and it likes came into the vocabulary of the people of the land.

Trench · Jan 8, 2011

THE KOD said:
................................................................

copywright issues dude.

i bet you dont even know you were already a part of it.

Surely, Jack told him.

Trench · Jan 9, 2011

illuminati said:
I'm just posting a story about PC clensing of an American Classic.

Time to start bitch-slapping the PC police when they go after Mark Twain.

Lumi · Jan 9, 2011

THE KOD said:
................................................................

are you calling DTBlackgumby a sheep

He is willing to give out all his personal info
so he cant label himself a troll

copywright issues dude.

i bet you dont even know you were already a part of it.

no KOD,

I am calling you a sheep

DOGS THAT BARK · Jan 9, 2011

Chadman said:
This is an issue I'll have to deal with in the coming years. Many classics of literature have these words and themes in them, and I'll have to have a strong justification for what I choose to teach, and why. If I have the choices, which in some schools, I may not.

Tough call - I can't stand that word, and others. But these books were written in a different time, when those things were commonplace and a part of the historical record. It would always be important to present the context of the material, and my feelings about it, as well as consider the feelings of students and parents. To a degree.

Good read Chad.

My prob is any rewriting of history.

--but especially in light of insanity by PC police.

They worry about those reading classic but no prob if its blaring out of musics boxs 24/7

What music artist exploit others are fired for.

Sheez We even got pres who by own addmission one of fav artist is Lil Wayne and he has him on his Iphone/ipod. Wonder if he shares with the children?:0corn

Lil' Wayne: Dats My Nigga Lyrics

[Chorus:]
That's my motha fuckin nigga (Hey)
Yeah that's my nigga (Hey)
That's my nigga (Hey)
Girl you my nigga
You my motha fuckin dawg (You my dawg),
Girl you my dawg (You my dawg),
You are my cutie, my beauty,
And I am a motha fuckin beast (I'm a beast),
Yes I'm a beast (Yes I'm a beast),
Yes I'm a beeeast (I'm a beast),
Yes I'm a beast,
Now girl gone do it for the boy (Do it),
Do Do it for the boy (Do it),
Just do it for the boy (Do it),
Do Do it for the boyyyyy
:facepalm:

WhatsHisNuts · Jan 9, 2011

DOGS THAT BARK said:
Lil' Wayne: Dats My Nigga Lyrics

[Chorus:]
That's my motha fuckin nigga (Hey)
Yeah that's my nigga (Hey)
That's my nigga (Hey)
Girl you my nigga
You my motha fuckin dawg (You my dawg),
Girl you my dawg (You my dawg),
You are my cutie, my beauty,
And I am a motha fuckin beast (I'm a beast),
Yes I'm a beast (Yes I'm a beast),
Yes I'm a beeeast (I'm a beast),
Yes I'm a beast,
Now girl gone do it for the boy (Do it),
Do Do it for the boy (Do it),
Just do it for the boy (Do it),
Do Do it for the boyyyyy
:facepalm:

This is the first song my wife and I ever danced to as a married couple.

THE KOD · Jan 9, 2011

Trench Fickler said:
Surely, Jack told him.

................................................................

I dont think that Illum is aware.

Jack is not allowed to talk about it and Illum wasnt here the day it was discussed.

Illum are you aware of the copyright chit and your involvement ?

If not I will break it down in code somehow.

A Few Words In Defense of the N-Word, in the Novels of Mark Twain

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