Thursday, January 15, 2009

Racism

I think Mark Twain is somewhat racist. In the book when Jim is talking, the dialect for the african americans, i think is racist. Only because not all african americans talk the way he is represented.
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20 comments:

  1. cutekittenJanuary 15, 2009 at 7:53 AM

    i agree some of the african americans are educated. he portrays the african americans as non educated and not very smart.
    Not all african americans speak like that either.

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  2. Cody RayJanuary 15, 2009 at 7:59 AM

    I don't think he's racist, maybe back then they weren't aloud to be educated so they didn't rebel. That's what I learned from that old tv show "Roots". So I don't think he was being racist I think he might have been real.

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  3. sourpatchkidJanuary 15, 2009 at 8:00 AM

    i agree jim seems to know alot more than any character in this book and he probably got an education, i mean he did work for a widow who seemed to educate Huck. Mark Twain is supposedly trying to get to the point that racism is wrong but it looks like he doesnt mean it.

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  4. TessaJanuary 15, 2009 at 8:01 AM

    Yes, but wasn't that the mindset of most people back then? Of course not all African Americans speak like that today, but remember, Jim was a slave and it is very likely he had little to no education.

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  5. MASonJanuary 15, 2009 at 8:02 AM

    I disagree completely... Mark Twain was not a racist. In this book he is trying to illustrate for you how racist the people and culture was in that day in age and he did an amazing job but just because you dont understand that you shouldn't immediately call someone a racist.

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  6. zoey101pwnsJanuary 15, 2009 at 8:03 AM

    So Jumpman, you were back there in the 19th century and knew what went on? Almost all black people back then had terrible education, if any in the south. They were treated as property, so they didn't have to teach them. It is not racist at all, just accurate. And he is in no way saying that ALL black people talked like that. If I listened to a stuck up white person talk, I wouldn't assume all white people are stuck up.

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  7. AnonymousJanuary 15, 2009 at 8:03 AM

    I dont totally agree with this statement.Yes African Americans not ALL talked like that but then again you have to remember what time and era they were in.Jim was a slave living in a rural area.People black or white talked like that.I dont think it was a matter of Mark Twain being racist otherwise he wouldnt have really addressed this mateer in his book at all.

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  8. Kanye EastJanuary 15, 2009 at 8:11 AM

    I'v heard black people talk like that today. If you've ever been around someone that does speak with such a tone it is much easier to read and understand.

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  9. cutekittenJanuary 15, 2009 at 8:12 AM

    but "MASon" if mr. twain isnt racist then why does he use the "n" word so many times in the book. he even refers to jim as the "n"word.
    this is what i want to know.

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  10. etn1992January 15, 2009 at 8:18 AM

    Ok, the "n" word back in those times meant property. That is what the white people called there slaves. Today that word is considered a taboo for whites to say because no one owns slaves anymore. He is not racist, he is from a different time then us. If you watched the movie before we started reading you would know this...

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  11. tisron01January 15, 2009 at 9:24 AM

    I disagree with the statement. I don't think having Jim talk like that makes Mark Twain racist. He isn't necessarily saying all African Americans talk like that. And Jim was a slave so it's not likely that he had a ton of education. This dialect just makes the story more interesting to read because you get a feel of how things were. I agree that it's not racist, just accurate.

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  12. AnonymousJanuary 15, 2009 at 9:24 AM

    I dont believe that Mark Twain was racist. He was just capturing the era. When he was writting his book he wanted to make it athentic. During this time this is how many people talked and how many African Americans were treated. Twain just wanted to capture how things were. He wanted to show the truth and how things really were during this era.

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  13. therunmaster56January 15, 2009 at 9:31 AM

    I think that Mark Twain is just trying to add more character to the book. You have to remember that Twain lived in the south. That's how a lot of people in the south talk. He was making the book as realistic as possible. That's just the southern accent that Twain was used to.

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  14. jbd09January 15, 2009 at 9:31 AM

    I agree with Rexle. I dont think that Mark Twain is racist he is just trying to show people how things were back then. Yes i do think he uses the "n" word a little too much but thats just how it was back in the day.

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  15. RyukJanuary 15, 2009 at 9:39 AM

    ms. erm.. cutekitten. the "n" word wasnt being used to portray racism he was just being accurate to the book.

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  16. meow.January 15, 2009 at 9:43 AM

    I would have to say that Twain is only being accurate and realistic. Would you read about the Holocaust with explicit details and call the author prejudice for only writing the facts? no. Do not blame Mark Twain for slavery.

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  17. THE Unkillable KOWJanuary 15, 2009 at 9:46 AM

    Although i'll admit that Jims rhetoric, or lack thereof, is quite annoying. I do not belive Mark Twain was a "Racist." We must consider that he was only representing
    Afro-Americans from one particular area. The excuse that not all people of color speak this way is asinine. He is not trying to represent ALL people of color. The truth of the matter is that people are not thinking enough about the background of the writers intentions.

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  18. Margo Roth SpiegelmanJanuary 15, 2009 at 9:49 AM

    I believe that Twain is accurately representing the dialect of African Americans living along the Mississippi River during the late 1800’s. He isn’t being racist. He is simply staying true to the beliefs and misconceptions of whites during this time period.

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  19. guitarmann5000January 15, 2009 at 10:01 AM

    I disagree, because this is a time where africans were still barely learning english. and they had a heavy accent! He isn't all that racist, he's just writing of the times. That was the rhetoric of the time in which the book is based off of. its not racist. almost at all. i think you are swayed because of the over usage or the use of the N-word. you have to think about the time period of the story. and what africans were portrayed as. you brought up a great arguement. but i formally disagree.

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  20. AnonymousJanuary 15, 2009 at 7:02 PM

    I see you have gotten a lot of hits on this so I will add my two cents..I think Twain did an admirable thing mentioning a black man like he did he was probably one of the few people who thought color of skin meant nothin. All the other books you read from that time probably only mention a black person as a piece of property or well nothing. He was level heaed enough to portray the character of Jim as an equal to young Huck and even a role modle in a way. Jim taught Huck more than anyone in the book and because of the dialect in the book, although it may confuse us a bit, it makes Jim stick in your head and i think Mr. twain did that on purpose!

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