Is PC going too far with this?

[dvg]

I was a little disappointed to see that some factions of the Political Correctness movement have seen fit to sanitize a couple of Mark Twain's classic childhood novels.

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2011/01/huckleberry_finn_sanitizing_th.html#incart_hbx

They are apparently being 'cleaned up' by removing various racial references.

Though those references are not PC today, when these books were written, they were the societal norm.

But by whitewashing the words of these authors(Yes, other classic Novels are slated for the same censoring fate), isn't a slice of the historical context lost?

Maybe it's just me, but I think that the classical literature should be left alone.

These works have stood the test of time, and the act of sanitizing them, diminishes them, rather than adding much in the way of value.

As for these book's content, they are slice of life for the times they were written in, and editing them, removes some of that historical flavor.

dvg

 

[alfie]

I also find it very sad that the PC movement is essentially ruining classic literature. Many books that I consider excellent reads that truly cause the reader to stop and really think about different issues frequently appear on banned books lists. It's a shame that the impact certain books had on me (including the Adventures of Huck Finn) may be diminished or even lost on those who end up reading this new PC versions.

 

[chilehunter]

all this PC is a load of crap going overboard about everything, its getting old.

 

[OldManNinja1912]

The act of censoring these books should come as more of a slap in the face of anti-racism movements than any words in the original text. By removing these words and phrases from the books we are not being pc, we are acting like it was never a part of this countries daily standard. This denial should come as more of an insult than anything else!
Simply put, we can't make our ignorance go away by acting like it was never there. Sometimes we need to have it to look at in order to not repeat it in the future. Just my opinion.