The Banned Book

Huckleberry Finn has been banned or challenged in schools since its publication. In the 19th century, it was banned for being too crude and vulgar — Huck's bad grammar and rough manners offended genteel readers. In the 20th and 21st centuries, it is challenged for its racial language.

Both objections miss Twain's point. The crudeness is authentic voice — Twain insisted literature could not be sanitized without being falsified. The racial language exists to condemn, not celebrate, racism. Yet the pain the language causes real students is also genuine, creating a tension that every teacher and parent must handle. The novel that argues most powerfully against racism uses the vocabulary of racism to do it.