Huck Finn Gets Some Changes

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

That's not the question though. I didn't listen to rap growing up, I was never called the n-word, no one in my family used the n-word. I went to a private school that was almost all white and never heard it used there. Huck Finn was one of my first exposures to it. Now, I was privileged not to have to know about the n-word then. But the same question applies. I'm talking about legitimate situations where the kids have not been exposed to that language and I'm not talking about fuck, shit, or even bitch but words that are considered slurs and fairly universally offensive ones.

I guess I grew up in a different environment I honestly knew that word by at least age 7...probably younger. What age is Huck Finn usually taught? I don't remember reading it in school. I read it on my own.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

I guess I grew up in a different environment I honestly knew that word by at least age 7...probably younger. What age is Huck Finn usually taught? I don't remember reading it in school. I read it on my own.

6th through HS and into college in my experience. But that's why I extended it past the n-word itself. When do we teach about the c-word? I wouldn't feel comfortable in a classroom with a majority of males reading from a book that called a woman a C*** 219 times in high school. Even if that book were a classic as Huck Finn, I'd doubt we'd teach it to 6th grader.

[33girl]

When I was 12, I pronounced Arab as Ay-rab in class and everyone laughed at me. I honestly thought that was the pronunciation and had no idea it was derogatory. I'm glad I was corrected! Not that we had any Arabs anywhere in our town, which of course is why I was ignorant about it.

I don't think the n-word and the c-word are in the same category. TNT can show a Law & Order rerun where the n-bomb gets dropped multiple times and nothing happens. (It was an episode where Courtney B Vance was accused of killing his white boss and he was the one who used the word.) If they had an episode with the c-bomb, I doubt they would get away with that no matter the context, they would probably get fined.

The only reason that racial terms have become as offensive as they have is because the country as a whole has changed. The c-word, however, has been offensive I think pretty much since its creation.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by 33girl

When I was 12, I pronounced Arab as Ay-rab in class and everyone laughed at me. I honestly thought that was the pronunciation and had no idea it was derogatory. I'm glad I was corrected! Not that we had any Arabs anywhere in our town, which of course is why I was ignorant about it.

I don't think the n-word and the c-word are in the same category. TNT can show a Law & Order rerun where the n-bomb gets dropped multiple times and nothing happens. (It was an episode where Courtney B Vance was accused of killing his white boss and he was the one who used the word.) If they had an episode with the c-bomb, I doubt they would get away with that no matter the context, they would probably get fined.

The only reason that racial terms have become as offensive as they have is because the country as a whole has changed. The c-word, however, has been offensive I think pretty much since its creation.

c-word was used primarily for it's anatomical description prior to the past 100 years or so. It wasn't always an obscenity. It is seen as less offensive in England - to some - and more on the par with a harsh "asshole" if how I've heard it used is correct. That doesn't really erase the offensiveness per se. All that said, obviously it's considered incredibly offensive in the US.

But if the book was a classic would you teach it? Or the movie? And if you don't think the c-word is comparable, what about slurs against Hispanics or Asians? My question then is when do you introduce kids to things they actually haven't heard.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

But if the book was a classic would you teach it? Or the movie? And if you don't think the c-word is comparable, what about slurs against Hispanics or Asians? My question then is when do you introduce kids to things they actually haven't heard.

Well, I don't know of anything that has repeated c-words and is a classic (except for maybe The Filth and the Fury) so kind of a moot point.

But yes, Hispanic/Asian slurs would be more on a par with HF. As to when is a good time to teach it, I'd say whenever it is that kids can say "naughty" words in general without laughing like Beavis and Butt-Head for an hour. When that is (having no direct access to adolescents these days) I don't know anymore.

I don't think you should teach a book JUST because it's a classic. "Classic" has become a pretty elastic definition, and there's YA fiction (and movies and TV shows) that's probably a LOT better for teaching whatever you want to put across than the classics. I mean, if I wanted to teach my students about homosexual stereotypes, I'd pop in the DVD of The Celluloid Closet.