On Censoring ‘Huckleberry Finn’

Melissa Harris-Perry discussing the recent decision by a publisher to strip the “n-word” and “Injun” from a new version of Mark Twain’s classic, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”

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Harris-Perry makes a point at the end that I want to pull out because I think it’s just a beautiful point about the role of art in society:

“[P]art of it is understanding the relative autonomy of art, the way in which cultural products – art, music – contribute something to our life that is not just sort of a pretty package with a bow on it.  Part of art’s job is to be grotesque, to be difficult, to challenge us…”

Indeed.