…catch it on one of its repeats tomorrow. In the second section, Jon Stewart and Larry Wilmore (Senior Black Correspondent) discuss Huckleberry Finn and some of the comments are like things that were said here, plus stuff that Wilmore says is just common sense brilliant. A must-see for anyone who was interested in the subject.
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I especially liked Larry’s assertion that we may not like the n-word, but “slave” really isn’t a promotion for Jim.
Not to mention–in keeping with Wilmore’s candid addressing of the material–that there’s more involved here than a description of Jim. It’s an invoking of the venomous way that blacks were thought of by the uneducated and the biased, and without it, Twain’s book loses its historical perspective.
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Consider, for instance…and yes, I will dare to quote the text…this horrible rant from Huck’s father in which he’s describing, not a slave, but an educated, free black man:
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“Oh, yes, this is a wonderful govment, wonderful. Why, looky here. There was a free ņìggër there from Ohio — a mulatter, most as white as a white man. He had the whitest shirt on you ever see, too, and the shiniest hat; and there ain’t a man in that town that’s
got as fine clothes as what he had; and he had a gold watch and chain, and a silver-headed cane — the awful-est old gray-headed nabob in the State. And what do you think? They said he was a p’fessor in a college, and could talk all kinds of languages, and knowed everything. And that ain’t the wust. They said he
could VOTE when he was at home. Well, that let me out. Thinks I, what is the country a-coming to? It was ‘lection day, and I was just about to go and vote myself if I warn’t too drunk to get there; but when they told me there was a State in this country where they’d let that ņìggër vote, I drawed out. I says I’ll
never vote agin. Them’s the very words I said; they all heard me; and the country may rot for all me –I’ll never vote agin as long as I live. And to see the cool way of that ņìggër — why, he wouldn’t a give me the road if I hadn’t shoved him out o’ the way. I
says to the people, why ain’t this ņìggër put up at auction and sold? — that’s what I want to know.
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The thrust is clear: To people like Huck’s father, it doesn’t matter how educated, how intelligent, and how prosperous blacks become. To him, they’re just ņìggërš who should be sold at the first opportunity.
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Sadly, it’s a sentiment that hasn’t entirely disappeared.
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If you can’t catch it on the reruns, comedy central also puts full episodes on the daily show page at the comedy central website.
Good stuff from Larry Wilmore like always.
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I still chuckle when I think about him and his membership in the Nat Turner Rebellion Cotillion (“Kill Whitey”).
http://www.gocomics.com/thenewadventuresofqueenvictoria/2011/01/12/
Unfortunately, over in the UK, as of January, we can’t watch The Daily Show.
Prior to 1st January, they showed the previous night’s Daily Show at half-past eight in the evening on a channel called “More 4”. However, they chose to cease showing it and only show The Global Edition (about 23 minutes culled together from the previous *week’s* US editions).
I’m sure it’s ENTIRELY unrelated to Channel 4 (More 4’s parent channel) starting it’s OWN daily news-based satire show, and not wanting to suffer by comparison…
My favorite lines:
“‘Slave’ is just a job description.”
“What the f*ck, 1950’s?”
And the brilliant observation, “Twain’s point is you can’t run away from being a ‘ņìggër’.”
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-january-11-2011/mark-twain-controversy
“When will America learn to stop whitewashing its history?”
Personally, I wasn’t going to whitewash America’s history, but Huck’s friend Tom convinced me it would be fun. :p
Oooo, a literary joke. Nice.
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Thanks. I didn’t know if it would be right, considering it was referencing a different Twain novel. However, when a joke comes to my mind I’ve just got to use it. I can’t seem to stop myself.