The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Source: Wikipedia

As most of my readers probably know, I am a huge fan of Mark Twain. The name of this blog comes from a quote he made about history and a lot of my inspiration comes from his works. The recent news of a Montgomery, Alabama-based publisher publishing a censored version of one of Twain's most famous books, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is really rather sickening to me. The publisher has decided to replace the word "nigger" with "slave" as well as to replace the word "injun" with a less offensive word.

While I certainly understand that these words are not politically correct and are offensive to many in our current times, the words should not be taken out of context when it comes to the story. In Twain's time, both were acceptable words. The novel contains a story which is extremely critical of Twain's own time and racism during that time. People spoke that way in Missouri at that time. That is a fact that will absolutely never change.

I understand the arguments that they want to create a "teachable" version of the novel, but this simply furthers one of the most fundamental problems of the American education system: censorship. Parents and teachers don't want kids exposed to such things even as late as high school. The problem is that they find out on their own anyway. Isn't it better they have the proper training when they discover it rather than not know what to do with it when they run across it for the first time? The same applies to sexual abstinence versus teaching safe sex practices. But I digress.

The novel itself is an anti-slavery commentary. Twain has his main character, Huckleberry Finn, befriend a run-away black slave named Jim. Throughout the novel they share adventures and good (and bad) times. This was a revolutionary idea for the time for most people -- especially in Missouri and the south where the novel takes place.

Racism is still an extremely prevalent problem in our current society. There is no doubt about that. People like the publishers of this hacked up version of Twain's masterpiece, however, only further the problem. The way to combat racism is to teach people about it. Simply sweeping the problem under the rug so that people aren't exposed to it is not going to help anyway. In fact, it is going to make it far worse.

For more interesting commentary on the subject, visit these two sites:
CNN
The Mark Twain House & Museum

Billy the Kid
Source: Wikipedia

Update: I have just read that Bill Richardson did NOT give Billy the Kid the long-promised pardon.

While reading the news today, I discovered that the current governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, is considering pardoning Billy the Kid for killing a sheriff. Richardson only has until Friday to decide because that is when his term will end.

The reason behind the possible pardon is based on a promise made to Billy the Kid by then-governor Lew Wallace. In return for appearing before a grand jury in another murder case, Wallace made a deal with Billy the Kid to pardon his crimes. The pardon was never given which is why Richardson argues that Billy the Kid still deserves his pardon even posthumously.

The majority of people support the proposed pardon, but many also oppose it. The family of Pat Garrett, the sheriff who fatally shot Billy the Kid, opposes it strongly by arguing that no matter what promises were made, Billy the Kid was still a thief and a murderer. Supporters argue that a deal is a deal and that Billy the Kid deserves his pardon even if it is well over a century late.

What do you think about this? Do you think he deserves the pardon? I, personally, have mixed feelings about it. Both points are valid in my opinion which makes it quite difficult to decide.

Wyoming Territorial Prison

The semester is finally over for me. I had my last final and had to turn in my last paper yesterday. The paper was an interesting paper, however, because it involved the history of the Wyoming Territorial Prison Museum. It wasn't about this history of the prison itself, but rather of the site as a museum. The research we did was original research. One of the requirements for the paper was to conduct an oral interview with a person who has been involved somehow with the administration of the museum at some point since it became a museum in 1990.

My interviewee was originally supposed to be a lady who has worked there (and still continues to work there) since the early nineties. Unfortunately I was unable to get ahold of her in time, so I ended up interviewing my professor who was involved with evaluating a couple of grants for the Prison Museum, reviewing a script for a movie that was to be made about the prison and is even currently serving on the Master Planning Committee for the Prison Museum.

As the first oral history interview I've ever done, I think it actually went rather well. The interview will be archived at the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming for future reference.

And here it is: http://www.the-west.net.

'The West' Online RPG

Although I haven't really played it much due to a complete lack of time, it looks like quite a fun game. The idea is that you are new to the wild west and from there, you can be a wandering cowboy, a farmer, a shop keeper, bar tender, etc. You can found your own towns, engage in gun fights with other players, etc. I am not the type that usually enjoys role playing games, but I suppose you might say this game has a theme that hits home with one of my biggest interests. I am going to delve into it more as I go along.

I really wish I could find a game like it in English, but unfortunately have been unable to find anything even remotely similar. If I do run across something however, I will also post about it here.

You can find the game at http://www.the-west.de.

I have to say, congratulation, President Barack Obama!