But what puzzles me most about the debate — I’m not trying to sound willfully naïve — is why the word “nigger” should be more freighted, more troubling, the cause of more (to paraphrase the edition's introduction) “resentment” than the word “slave.” Racial epithets are inarguably disgusting, but not nearly so disgusting as an institution that treats human beings as property to be beaten, bought and sold.Baffling. But all I did was come in 2nd place in an Easter Bunny coloring contest in 1979, so what the fuck do I know?
Thursday, January 06, 2011
More Huck Finn
This chick at the New York Times wonders the same thing I did HERE two days ago: why are we more comfortable with slavery than racial epithets?
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so, you want those who take pride in our Great Nation to simmer down now because after all, we were ONCE A 'NOT SO GREAT' nation OF SLAVE OWNERS... Are you saying that it would be the more correct thing to leave the N word alone when it comes up in CLASSIC literature since the open use of the word "SLAVE" would make them feel WORSE. I thought you wanted to REMIND us about how nasty we really were. Seems the use of N reminds us of how nasty we still really are. READ IT! READ IT! Did Mark Twain, the atheist really give a damn how people really felt? Should we? Discussing 'Slavery' is a far cry from using the word which still cuts to the nerve of the matter.
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