When Mark Twain said, "Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it." In the 1800s banned and offensive books were a major problem in the literary world. Censorship and the removal of books continue to become a conversation starter in the lives of Americans today. This was especially true in Tempe, Arizona in 1998. A high school mother, Kathy Monteiro, began to grow upset over the fact that her 17 year old daughter was reading a Mark Twain book. The class was reading “Huckleberry Finn”, which angered Ms. Monteiro because it included over 200 references to racism use the racial slur, “nigger”. The teacher and school administrators heard Ms. Monteiro’s concerns and gave the student an option for independent reading in the school library. She still was not content about this resolution because it robbed her daughter of her education.
Ms. Monteiro and her daughter both state that it is not the word that offends them but rather the context in classroom in which they are using it. Her daughter explained how she had to put up with the word, “nigger” an ample amount before the readings Mark Twain had introduced into her classroom, but now it is used even more. Her main point of emphasis is that a public school in this day in age should be completely free of racism. She understands that the school does not come right out and say that they are teaching racism, but rather when the classes of McClintock High study the book they would find various hints to racism. She also had a “slogan” that she used quite frequently, nine out the 12 months are now demeaning and going to school like this should not be accepted in the district.
Classic American books are the cornerstone of any American Literature class. The Tempe, Arizona school district had their side of the story. They stood by the idea that classic books and classic authors should be a part of the Communication Arts classes they offer. Furthermore the school board did give the option of independent study in their library. In my opinion, I believe that the school is not at fault here, because they offered numerous alternatives that the opposing students could take advantage of. The school, in my mind, did do a good job of addressing the concerns of Ms. Monteiro, although she would totally disagree. As the School Board said, the education system cannot stop just for one concerned parent or student; it can only try to work through the unease of that party.
The documentary of the Tempe, Arizona’s parent concern did tend to be very once-sided. They focus aplenty on the mom’s point of view about the racism depicted in “Huckleberry Finn”. They missed a major cluster of people when filming this documentary. Maybe they had their reasons, but they could have added the opinions of the other students and the teachers at McClintock High School. The producers made it look like all the students were unhappy with the curriculum selection they had to read. If they had interviewed the students it would have strengthened one side of the debate. Although it was ultimately the film maker’s choice, I think that they should have included the ideals of other parties in this matter.
Even though the movie focused most of its attention on the debate it did bring extra insights into my mind by watching it. When I first read the book I did not really notice or think about the racism aspect of the book, but rather a book that was true to the time period. By watching this PBS produced video I was able to understand all the point of views concerning the book by Mark Twain. I still hold strong to my original belief that the book was just an example about how the times were during the Reconstruction period and not to show that Twain or his readers are racists. In fact, Twain even said that his book was not to be read to children or teen and its purpose was for the older and adults of the time period.
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