Before I begin, I would like to say that this is all purely opinion. You see, I was on my Facebook a few days ago, just to catch up with what's happening back home, and I noticed a lot of people had been sharing the same news article. So, being curious, I read it and to much dissatisfaction, and ultimately frustration, I realized that a county in Maryland had banned reading "To Kill A Mockingbird", and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" because of the use of the N-word.
Actually wait a minute, I'm censoring my whole paper, which is about censorship... I trust you all will be adults when I write the word nigger.
Yes, while it is a racial slur in those books, which happen to be classic American novels, works of art if you will (coming from a die hard To Kill A Mockingbird fan). The use of the word "nigger" is appropriate in a sense because honestly that's how people acted towards people of color in that time period. Was it right, or justified? No, of course not, it was a terrible time. But those books teach young adults that it wasn't right. Also just because the books use nigger in their literature, doesn't mean they're bad books.
While I haven't read "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", I know enough that it was written by a certain famous author, Mark Twain, and no doubt this book was just as popular as his others. "To Kill a Mockingbird" it quite literally about the opposite of racism. Why they chose to ban these books still blows my mind.
To "shield" young adults from a word that is widely popularized in their slang, and in their music isn't really shielding them. They'll still know the word, but only in a certain way. Obviously, I don't have children to worry about, but I would much rather have them learn about certain words, in school, an educational and safe environment. Than from popular culture where they could use the word inappropriately, and ultimately get themselves in trouble.
What I'm trying to say is that censorship in schools is killing literature, and freedom of speech. We've all learned from books like "Fahrenheit 451", what happens to a society when you start to "protect" it's citizens. Let's just say it doesn't turn out well. To ban classic novels is hindering the education of young adults, both about learning English themes and about learning things like compassion, acceptance, and kindness.
"To Kill a Mockingbird" has taught me what it was really like to walk in other's shoes, and to refrain from judging other people who may be more eccentric than others. Sure I knew about those things before, but I never really lived by those themes until I read the book. This book really changed my life, and I believe that this and other books that have been banned may have the same affect on others that it had on me. All the educational system needs to do is give them a chance.
