On American public television, there is now a series aimed to encourage reading, The Great American Read. 100 novels by authors from all over the world were chosen, and the general public can vote on their favorite. On the weekly program, some of the novels are discussed by fans of those novels nominated.
When I was young, many considered Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn as the great American novel. In recent decades, it has been banned in schools and even some libraries because one of the main characters in the novel is N_____ Jim, and for decades now, whites and polite society are not permitted to use the n word to describe Black people. Just last week in a suburb of Milwaukee, Shorewood, the high school theater department had to cancel, on opening day, a production of "To Kill a Mocking Bird" because of the n word, which some found offensive, and they threatened protest! So even if ten people out of 1,000 are offended, the school caves in, and the play is canceled! I suspect they found the play "racist"! BREAKING NEWS. Shorewood High had planned to present the play based on "To Kill a Mockingbird" today, 17 Oct. 2018, just for the parents of the players and staff, but last night a threat was received. Today, this limited-audience production of the play was also cancelled. The 17-year-old who threatened the theater was arrested, but the school board seems to cave again. Perhaps they can perform it next week under a different title - "To Kill a Play," or "To Kill American Culture!"
Angry about how pc is destroying American culture, I just posted the following on the PBS Great American Read's website discussion/comments; I tried to copy my comment and wasted half an hour trying to paste it on my blog, so I will rewrite a comment, which may not be exactly as the one I posted: Mark Twain's Adventures of Tom Sawyer is on the list of the 100 for which you can vote, but NOT Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I suspect the reason that Huck Finn is not included is because one of the main characters is "N____r Jim" and though it is a funny and fabulous novel, the pc police will not consider its greatness. It is often banned in schools now. Apparently the word Injun is still allowed according to the pc crowd, as Injun Joe is a major character in Tom Sawyer. Injun is ok, for now, anyway.
The irony is that one book discussed on the program and among the 100 is Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None," published in the US in the early 1940s. What goes unmentioned is that the same novel was first published in the UK under the title "Ten Little N____rs," and I saw paperbacks of the novel in British Woolworths with that title displayed on the metal, turnable racks, in the late 1960s. But few Americans are aware of that fact. So Christie's fine mystery novel is allowed, but Twain's great classic is barred. PC is destroying American culture, and history, and thought. Even the well-meaning attempt to promote reading, restricts thought and appreciation of our great culture.
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