It's really not surprising that this book would be banned many times from the time it was published to now. It's use of the N-word, and Huck Finn's approach to his various moral dilemma's (like whether to turn in a run away slave) could upset anyone's delicate sensibilities. Personally I think everyone should rest easy and take Mark Twain at his word when he said in the beginning of the book "
In Mark Twain's lifetime, his books Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were excluded from the juvenile sections of the Brooklyn Public library (among other libraries), and banned from the library in Concord, MA, home of Henry Thoreau. In recent years, some high schools have dropped Huckleberry Finn from their reading lists, or have been sued by parents who want the book dropped. In Tempe, Arizona, a parent's lawsuit that attempted to get the local high school to remove the book from a required reading list went as far as a federal appeals court in 1998. (The court's decision in the case, which affirmed Tempe High's right to teach the book, has some interesting comments about education and racial tensions.) The Tempe suit, and other recent incidents, have often been concerned with the use of the word "nigger", a word that also got Uncle Tom's Cabin challenged in Waukegan, Illinois.
Published in 1884, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain has been banned on social grounds. Concord Public Library called the book "trash suitable only for the slums," when it first banned the novel in 1885. The references and treatment of African Americans in the novel reflect the time about which it was written, but some critics have thought such language inappropriate for study and reading in schools and libraries.
The word "nigger," which appears many times in the novel, was the cause for the removal of this classic from an eighth-grade reading list. In the 1950s, the NAACP objected to the book's perceived racist tone. In 1984, the book was removed from a public high school reading list in Waukegan, Illinois, because a black alderman found the book's language offensive.
2007 Pulled from classes in Taylor (MI) schools because of complaints about its liberal use of common racial slurs. Challenged as required reading at Cactus High in Peoria (AZ). The student and mother have threatened to file a civil-rights complaints because of alleged racial treatment, the segregation of the student, and the use of a racial slur in the classroom. Challenged in the Lakeville (MN) as required reading for sophomores. 2005 Challenged in the Normal (IL) Community High School sophomore literature class as being degrading to African Americans. Pulled from the reading lists of the three Renton (WA) high schools after an African American student said the book degraded her and her culture. The Novel was eventually retained for classroom usage. 2004 Challenged in the Normal (IL) Community High School sophomore literature class as being degrading to African Americans. Pulled from the reading lists of the three Renton (WA) high schools after an African American student said the book degraded her and her culture. 2003 Challenged in Portland (OR) schools by an African-American student who said he was offended by an ethnic slur used in the 1885 novel. 2001 Challenged, but retained, in Enid (OK) schools. Challenged in Kankakee (IL) school district because of offensive language.
And Finally... This article from the Star Gazette... http://www.stargazettenews.com/newsextra/marktwain/021504_2.html
Feb. 15, 2004
Twain classics have often been banned
By Brooke J. Sherman
Star-Gazette
bsherman@stargazette.com
Timeless classic. Roaring adventure. Engaging satire. Banned book.
These phrases describe Mark Twain's novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," a book that has remained one of the country's most challenged books since its publication in 1885. According to the American Library Association, Twain's book about Huck and Jim was the seventh most-challenged book in 2002, but didn't make the top 10 in 2003. "The reasons people challenge 'Huck Finn' come most from parents protecting young people from something they think is bad," said Beverley Becker, associate director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom.
"People want to protect their kids from this bad history that we have, and unfortunately you can't do that because it doesn't prepare them for the world outside. We can't change it, so it is important that we learn from it."
Some writers would have been furious over the controversy surrounding their books, not Twain. He celebrated the news as an economic windfall. He wrote this to his editor after the Committee of the Public Library of Concord, Mass., banned the tale: "They have expelled Huck from their library as 'trash and only suitable for the slums.' That will sell us 25,000 for sure."
The book has sold and sold well. Area teachers and librarians looked past the controversy surrounding Twain's work and kept the book on the shelves and in the classroom. Ed Cleary, a 10th-grade English teacher at Elmira's Southside High School, teaches "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" to his sophomore honors students. He has taught for 30 years, and has taught portions of Twain for the last seven years, he said. While he approaches the book carefully, he said it is a valuable book in the classroom for illustrating changes in cultural acceptance and societal development of race relations.
The book was banned when it was first published, not for the controversy it stirs today over the use of the term "nigger," but for the the type of role model Twain created in Huck of smoking, swearing and other vulgarities including disrespect to elders, poor grammar and poor manners, Cleary said. "I first make (my students) understand that Twain is not a racist," Cleary said. To illustrate his point he directs his students to look at the relationship between Huck and Jim. He also explains that the use of the word "nigger" throughout the book was part of the era in which Twain was writing. "You have to get beyond the controversy and look at Mark Twain's message," he said. "The book is pretty insightful."
Jim Sleeth, director of Steele Memorial Library, said the controversy of Twain's book isn't likely to disappear. "I think Twain's book is controversial today because it talks about race relations and race relations continue to be one of the most important concerns of our time," Sleeth said. The lesson of "Huckleberry Finn" is still applicable in today's society, he added. "What it is with Huck is he is learning how to look into Jim's eyes and see a human being. That is how Huck grows and all of us have to grow as individuals. It is a struggle for everybody," he said.
In Mark Twain's lifetime, his books Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were excluded from the juvenile sections of the Brooklyn Public library (among other libraries), and banned from the library in Concord, MA, home of Henry Thoreau. In recent years, some high schools have dropped Huckleberry Finn from their reading lists, or have been sued by parents who want the book dropped. In Tempe, Arizona, a parent's lawsuit that attempted to get the local high school to remove the book from a required reading list went as far as a federal appeals court in 1998. (The court's decision in the case, which affirmed Tempe High's right to teach the book, has some interesting comments about education and racial tensions.) The Tempe suit, and other recent incidents, have often been concerned with the use of the word "nigger", a word that also got Uncle Tom's Cabin challenged in Waukegan, Illinois.