The other issues include disputes between parents mostly divided by color over the appropriateness of the novel in an eighth grade classroom. One of the things we try to provide is mutual respect and understanding for all ethnic groups. Since school officials will not remove the book from the library, the action can not be challenged under the First Amendment, officials from New Haven schools and the American Civil Liberties Union said. Reading a story laden with racial slurs just adds to the feelings of loss, she said. Twain's novel tells the story of a young white boy, Huckleberry Finn, traveling down the Mississippi River with an escaped black slave, Jim.
Critics generally regard the novel as a satire of the antebellum South and of slavery.
But people of color have to live through the pain of racism every day. Children don't need to be exposed to that. Many academics disagree, saying the novel's literary qualities outweigh its offensive language. You need to read it to deal with it. Carby holds a joint Yale faculty appointment in African American Studies and English.