School district removes 'Huckleberry Finn' after complaint over racial slurs

To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn have been temporarily removed from some Virginia schools for racial slurs — a decision some are condemning as censorship.

Copies of the classic American novels have been lifted from the shelves of classrooms and libraries across a school district in Accomack County, Virginia, according to The Washington Post. While the books are already gone, the school district still has to decide whether it's going to permanently ban them.

"We have a committee looking at all of this,” Chris Holland, district superintendent, told Delmarva Now. “There’s been no recommendation right now."

The mother of a student first requested that the books be removed, saying the many racial slurs (the n-word appears in Huckleberry Finn 219 times) have been disturbing for her teenage son, a biracial high school student, The Post reported.

“I’m not disputing this is great literature,” Marie Rothstein-Williams said at a Nov. 15 school board meeting. “But there is so much racial slurs in there and offensive wording that you can’t get past that, and right now we are a nation divided as it is.”

Still, some say removing the books amounts to censorship.

"Although discomforting to some, the racial slurs realistically depict American history and should be addressed under the guidance of a teacher," the National Coalition Against Censorship wrote in a statement. "By avoiding discussion of controversial issues such as racism, schools do a great disservice to their students."

Censoring school curriculums of certain topics or language can have a negative impact on how teachers instruct their students, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

“There’s a chilling effect on their [teachers'] abilities to select materials,” Bill Farrar, a spokesperson for the ACLU of Virginia, told Mashable. He added that “fears of being criticized publicly or repudiated against” can distort what teachers ultimately choose to instruct.

Currently, the National Coalition Against Censorship is writing a letter to the Virginia school district that defends the right for the books to continue being taught. In an AMA on Reddit, the coalition said To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn hold long-known literary merit that will probably defend them from a permanent ban.

"These are all books initially selected for their literary merit and educational value, so the review committee often confirms the initial decision of educators," the organization wrote. "Occasionally, however, local political pressure may affect the decision and lead to the banning of a book."

Aside from being widely accepted in the education community, the books do not send racist or offensive messages to students, in spite of the slurs and language used, Farrar said. Rather, their critiquing of racism and inequality do "quite the opposite," he said.

“These particular books are historic treasured works in literature," Farrar said. "Presented in a proper education context, there’s much to be gained from reading those books.”

Virginia struggled with censorship issues in schools earlier this year, when a state assembly bill (that was later defeated) would have allowed parents to block their children from reading sexually explicit material.

While a special committee decides whether the books should still be banned from Virginia schools, copies of the novels will already be gone from school shelves. That's the policy of the Accomack County school district, according to its policy manual.

"Materials cited in the complaint will be temporarily suspended for use pending determination by the committee."

However, even a temporary book suspension is problematic, according to the National Coalition Against Censorship.

"Removing challenged works before reviewing them privileges the complaint of a single parent over the professional expertise of teachers and librarians who have selected the work," the group wrote on Reddit. "The temporary removal policy potentially enables parents to wreak havoc upon a curriculum."

"The same parent can, by filing multiple complaints, repeatedly obtain the temporary removal of numerous books until the teacher finally selects a book of which the parent approves," NCAC added.

The banning of books in American schools has long been an issue that free speech groups have rallied around. For 31 years, the American Civil Liberties Union has celebrated Banned Books Week, which it took to social media this year.