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Read real books then. What kind of ten year old needs to read dumbed down children's books? Cannoli Send a noteboard - 04/01/2011 11:21:27 PM
I don't think it's awful. It's a little iffy, and I generally dislike censorship, but changing "Nigger Jim" to "Slave Jim," (or better yet, as I remember from my old children's copy, "Jim";) for kids isn't that bad.
Yeah, because it's a word or usage YOU disapprove of. Censorship is not a principle to be upheld only when it's your own ox that's being gored. Why don't they just start censoring books that speak ill of Christianity, or remove the magic or paganistic practices from books?

It's sort of like how in kids' Snow White, the Prince kisses her awake instead of raping her comatose body.
That's ridiculous. In the first place, that is pretty much a public domain story at this point. No one tries to pass of their version of Snow White as an original work of literature, the way this is presumably purporting to be Samuel Clemens' original work. When someone puts out a book or film of Snow White or the Emperor's New Clothes or the Three Billy Goats Gruff, they are telling their version of a folktale, like painting a picture or taking a photograph or making a sculpture of a public building or attraction. What is being proposed here is nothing less than defacing a work of art because it violates a contemporary taboo, like painting clothes on a nude.

As long as we don't have shrieking mothers banging on the doors of the library with a pyre being built in the parking lot, I think it's ok.
Why is burning the flag a sacrosanct right, but book-burning is supposed to be one of those concepts that is reflexively aborrhent, like Nazism or something? Why is it acceptable to protest a nation's actions or policies by burning a flag, but not to reject the ideas in a book by burning it?
Cannoli
"Sometimes unhinged, sometimes unfair, always entertaining"
- The Crownless

“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.” GK Chesteron
Deus Vult!
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New Edition of Huckleberry Finn will eliminate offensive words - 04/01/2011 07:16:36 PM 2300 Views
I am annoyed - 04/01/2011 07:41:37 PM 1171 Views
That's nothing that new. I read Sawyer and Huck Finn when I was like 10, and it was definitely water - 04/01/2011 07:45:07 PM 1183 Views
I wonder... - 04/01/2011 08:44:31 PM 1180 Views
I believe... - 04/01/2011 09:08:13 PM 1249 Views
That's new to me. - 04/01/2011 09:35:05 PM 1188 Views
Grimm's Fairy Tales are awesomely dark - 05/01/2011 04:36:28 AM 1164 Views
I knew that... - 05/01/2011 09:27:44 PM 1144 Views
There's a difference between a kids' version and a normal version with a censored word, though. *NM* - 04/01/2011 11:19:26 PM 558 Views
Wouldn't the "kids' versions" ALREADY have that word excised? *NM* - 04/01/2011 11:53:09 PM 576 Views
Presumably, yes. *NM* - 05/01/2011 06:28:47 PM 589 Views
Exactly. *NM* - 05/01/2011 01:04:16 AM 694 Views
Read real books then. What kind of ten year old needs to read dumbed down children's books? - 04/01/2011 11:21:27 PM 1328 Views
That is just wrong. - 04/01/2011 08:00:57 PM 1234 Views
I agree. - 04/01/2011 09:12:53 PM 1282 Views
my gut says it wrong but my brain says it is OK - 04/01/2011 09:11:00 PM 1408 Views
No, the goal of the book (or one of them) was to illustrate authentic dialogue. Your brain sucks. - 04/01/2011 11:49:13 PM 1222 Views
I hate it when I agree with you - 05/01/2011 12:09:37 AM 1194 Views
yes but you are disagreeing with me so it is a wash *NM* - 05/01/2011 04:09:54 PM 563 Views
I see logic isn't your strong point. - 05/01/2011 04:09:27 PM 1262 Views
Re: I see logic isn't your strong point. - 08/01/2011 01:32:16 AM 1251 Views
it still boils down to the fact that most teachers will not use a book with word nigger in it - 08/01/2011 02:55:29 AM 1089 Views
You must have a very low opinion of black people... - 08/01/2011 07:34:14 PM 1274 Views
*cough* Rodney King trial *cough* *NM* - 22/01/2011 07:06:20 PM 582 Views
Wow. Hmm. - 04/01/2011 09:31:27 PM 1246 Views
naw Twain was a pinko liberal *NM* - 04/01/2011 09:46:57 PM 570 Views
It's probably a bad idea - 04/01/2011 11:06:02 PM 1098 Views
Heh. - 04/01/2011 11:26:00 PM 1186 Views
Re: It's probably a bad idea - 04/01/2011 11:51:31 PM 1246 Views
Just because it's the point doesn't mean I have to like it. *NM* - 05/01/2011 04:44:10 AM 559 Views
Reacting to "nigger" like that makes the word more hurtful. - 05/01/2011 03:26:35 AM 1263 Views
Well - 05/01/2011 02:03:58 PM 1187 Views
Pshaw. - 05/01/2011 01:52:57 PM 1166 Views
My thoughts exactly *NM* - 06/01/2011 08:42:42 AM 565 Views
Re: I revel in your succint common sense. - 07/01/2011 06:01:08 PM 1805 Views
What's next, burning Gone with the Wind? *NM* - 11/01/2011 12:54:46 PM 578 Views

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