A project of the National Coalition Against Censorship CO-SPONSORED BY American Booksellers for Free Expression Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Association of American Publishers
December 17, 2015 Art Hall Upper School Principal Friends Central School 1101 City Avenue Wynnewood, PA 19096 Via email:
[email protected]
Dear Mr. Hall, As organizations dedicated to the freedom to read, the integrity of the educational system, and the value of free speech principles in education, we are writing to express concern regarding the removal of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from Friends’ Central School’s (FCS) 11 th grade American literature curriculum. According to press reports, the book, which was to be taught alongside the Narrative Narrative of the Life of 1 Frederick Frederick Douglass , was removed from the curriculum after a group of students said it made them uncomfortable. Apparently the book’s use of the word “nigger” was “challenging for some students.” A letter to parents stated that the administration had “come to the conclusion that the community co sts of reading this book in 11 th grade outweigh the literary benefits.” The pedagogical and literary merit of Huckleberry Huckleberry Finn, Finn, one of the classics of American literature, is indisputable, which is why it has been part of the curriculum in schools across the country for many decades. Of course, it presents many challenges to students – which which are best addressed in the classroom and with the help of a teacher. As noted Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin explained, “ Huckleberry Huckleberry Finn remains Finn remains a hard book to read and a hard book to teach…. If we lived in a world in which racism had been eliminated eliminated generations generations before, teaching teaching Huck Huck Finn would Finn would be a piece piece of cake. Unfortunately that’s not the world we live in.” Indeed, at a time of difficult and polarizing conversations about race, it is understandable that a novel which repeatedly uses a highly offensive slur would generate discomfort. But does the discomfort caused by the language language or the ambiguities ambiguities of the novel’s narrative outweigh the value of teaching the bo ok? Attempts to remove books from schools invariably claim that an idea or image offends or disturbs. But acceding to such demands denies everyone – the the students protesting as well as those who would want to read the book – book – an an opportunity to engage with the text in a meaningful way. A pedagogically sound approach to curricular selections requires educational professionals to ask whether a book is relevant to the students, not whether it is comfortable. And Huckleberry Huckleberry Finn’s Finn’s complex examination of race relations at a fraught moment in the country’s country’ s history makes it particularly relevant
1
According to the Friends’ Central School’s “Texts for American Literature – 2015-2016”: 2015-2016”: https://www.friendscentral.org/uploaded/Campus_Life/Documents/2015-2016/Grade_11-America https://www.friendscentral.org/uploaded/Campus_Lif e/Documents/2015-2016/Grade_11-AmericanLiteratureTexts2015-2016.pdf nLiteratureTexts2015-2016.pdf
today. As Nobel Prize Laureate Toni Morrison wrote, “in addition to the reverence the novel stimulates is its ability to transform its contradictions into fruitful complexities and to seem to be deliberately cooperating in the controversy it has excited. The brilliance of Huckleberry Huckleberry Finn is Finn is that it is the is the argument it raises.” Indeed, the challenge of reading Huck Finn is the reason why it should be read within the classroom, where its complexities and ambivalences can be contextualized and examined. We appreciate FCS’s efforts to “ask that students stand up for what they believe,” and, as the school’s vision statement puts it, “[t]o awaken courage and intellect – and peacefully transform the world.” But to transform the world one needs to be ready to fearlessly confront its contradictions and historical burdens – especially as they are encoded encod ed in the nation’s literary can on. As novelist and PEN/Faulkner Award winner David Bradley said, Huckleberry Finn should Finn should be taught because because it is a seminal and central text in White White American American Literature. Huckleberry Finn should Finn should be taught because because it is a seminal and central central text in Black American Literature Literature.. Huckleberry Finn must be taught because it is a specific point of intersection between these two American Literatures. We are sure that as FCS and its teachers continue to strive to challenge your students, you will seek to also teach them that the discomfort of living in a society where racial tensions persist will not be resolved by the banishment of literary classics from the classroom. We urge you to restore The Adventures of Huckleberry Huckleberry Finn to the 11 th grade American literature curriculum in keeping with sound educational and free speech principles. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of further assistance. Sincerely,
Svetlana Mintcheva, Director of Programs National Coalition Coalition Against Against Censorship Censorship
Chris Finan, Director American Booksellers Booksellers for Free Expression
Judy Platt, Director Free Expression Advocacy Association of American Publishers
Charles Brownstein, Executive Director Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
CC: Craig Sellers, Head of School
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