They can't do that!...

Or can they?

A man by the name of Alan Gribben is working with NewSouth to publish an edition of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn that replaces the N- word with "slave". According to Gribben, "in the new classroom, it's not really acceptable."

(Screeching sound of tires coming to a halt)

What? Not acceptable in the NEW CLASSROOM? Are you kidding me? It's more acceptable now than ever. And this is coming from a student herself. Now more than ever, children are learning about social acceptance and are aware from a younger age that there are people out there that don't look, speak, or live like they do. In this day and age, students learn early on about what has happened in American history so as not to repeat it. Why, why, why would you ever take out the n- word from such a widely known book? Gribbens says, "for a single word to form a barrier, it seems such an unnecessary state of affairs."

Well you know what I think? I think there is a market for this kind of book. Take, for example, Texas. Yes, all of Texas. The state that removed Thomas Jefferson from the history curriculum because of the fact that he had children with slaves and promoted separation of church and state. In an attempt to eliminate any part of history that Texas found inconvenient for them, they took out one of the most influential thinkers in American history. Well, then, yes. This new version of Tom Sawyer sounds perfect for them. It makes sense that Gribbens would want to publish this book. Okay, I get it now.

Oh wait. No. Gribbens does not admit that he is just a money hound searching for any way possible to make some moola. No. He says he wants to allow a wider audience to appreciate and read the great classic. Ha. That's funny. How can you call yourself an educator, Mr. Gribbens? Your logic makes sense if you just admit to being the typical, money hungry capitalist that most Americans are. But when you claim that you are doing this for the sake of childrens' education, well, that's where there is a misstep in your reasoning.

By taking the n- word out of books, you are finding an easy way to evade the topic of racism at its most vicious, you are choosing to turn a blind eye on part of history and, in fact, harming the students learning about the book. Since when is less knowledge more knowledge?

I understand you want to allow those offended by the language a chance to read this classic, but really, you are just encouraging people to avoid the truth.

So I say, great going, guy. You really screwed this one up.

-A