Discrimination In Mark Twain's Huck Finn

1. Many African-American organizations have gotten together to ban Huck Finn from public education centers in New York City because of constant use of the N-word. Miami schools in 1969 got rid of the book because African-American student were thought to be mentally affected by it, which causes them not to be able to learn effectively (Wallace 16-17).

2. While reading this book, if the students are allowed to say the n-word as they please, this will cause the African- American students to resent the teacher, and the class because they feel attacked. The use of this word, along with any other demeaning words should not be allowed use in the classroom (Wallace 18).

3. Scattered all throughout Huck Finn are the core ideas of discrimination against

Having no individuality or morality, Twain portrays Jim as having a kid like demeanor, and acts more like one of the followers of Tom’s gang, rather than the adult male who has a family that he is supposed to be. According to Twain, slavery was nothing more than something to write about, and it gets tossed around along with the actions a black person would actually take when he escapes and allows himself to follow a kid rather than run for freedom (Lester 201-202).

2. Sailing down the river, Jim goes deeper and deeper into the Southern Confederate states after passing by Cairo, and is not worried a bit about it, fully relying on the white people he is with. This is where Twain’s reliability weakens. No slave would willingly follow white people deep into southern territory where slavery is still viewed as acceptable. This is only what white folks during this time would think happens, because they fail to empathize with blacks who were forced into slavery (Lester 202).

3. Jim is the stereotypical and subservient “good n****r”, who is like a dog that follows his superiors around and does as they say. He suffers from a deficiency of any type of self-worth because those above him take away any believe that he should have any of it (Lester

Huck feels some type of pity for Jim; however, it is only for brief moments at the most, and is soon replaced by a snobby attitude. This is because Huck does not want to associate himself with a slave (Hurt 100). 2. Jim is nothing more than a doll that Tom and Huck play with so they can have fun. He represents how Caucasian slave owners use their slaves for their own advantage, and take into no thought about how it feels on the other side. The one thing that Jim doesn’t represent is an actual person. One example of this is when Mrs. Watson frees him, but takes no consideration towards the rest of his family, because she believes that they aren’t people so they must feel no attachment towards each other (Lester