Editing Huckleberry Finn is counterproductive...

Really. It is.

What reason are they giving for removing the "n" word and "injun"? They want to avoid offending people? They want to prevent the perpetuation of racism by eliminating references to those words?

By editing an American classic, not only are they defacing art, they are also actually helping racism along. Ok, let's put aside the first part, though it is equivalent to the Roman Catholic Church's "fig-leaf" campaign during the late 16th century when they covered many of Michelangelo's nude sculptures and paintings.

The second part, however, is probably going to matter more to most of the public today. By removing the references to that very negative and unfortunate period in our history, it's like we've become the Minitrue. We're denying the past by eliminating it. It's extremely disrespectful to just pretend like it didn't happen. How are we supposed to convey the severity of the racism problem we had if we just hide it away? Those who forget their past are doomed to repeat it.

Basically, the censoring of Huckleberry Finn tries to come across as a benevolent, magnanimous gesture, trying to ease the pain associated with some words. It's the perfect example of everything that is wrong with political correctness. It's part thinly veiled placation and part fearful obsequiousness. We shouldn't feel so ashamed of our past that we are afraid of it. We need to use that shame to learn from it and grow as a civilization.

History happened the way it happened. There's nothing we can do about it; we can't change it by ignoring it. We can only learn from it and keep moving forward.

Till next time...