Harvard professor says book shouldn't be removed from classrooms

ENID, Okla. (AP) -- A Harvard University professor scheduled to visit Enid later this week to discuss Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" says the book portrays the struggle of runaway

Wednesday, April 5th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ENID, Okla. (AP) -- A Harvard University professor scheduled to visit Enid later this week to discuss Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" says the book portrays the struggle of runaway slaves unlike any other book of its time.

Enid school board members are considering a proposal by the school district textbook selection review committee to restrict instruction on the book. The committee has proposed that it not be taught in regular American literature or advanced American literature classes but that it be required reading in an enriched American literature class and remain on the shelves in the school library.

Action is expected to be taken April 24.

In the meantime, Jocelyn Chadwick, an associate professor at Harvard's Graduate School of Education, is to talk to students, teachers and members of the community Thursday and Friday. She appeared in a PBS documentary on how other communities handled complaints about the 1885 novel.

The debate in Enid stems from a request by a group of ministers that the book not be required reading. The group did not want the book banned. The ministers cited the racial slurs in the book.

Chadwick said the book should not be removed from classrooms.

"From 1884 to 1980, this is the only book that has done a real depiction of what it was like to run away (as a slave)," Chadwick told the Enid News & Eagle in an interview from her Cambridge, Mass., home.

The book tells the story of Huck Finn, a young boy, and Jim, a runaway slave. Chadwick said the book makes some people uncomfortable, but she said that doesn't mean the issue of slavery should be erased from curriculum.

"Twain forces us to confront the issue of race," she said.

Chadwick, who has written books on the subject of Huck Finn and Twain, said her ideal wish is to see the novel taught in each of the classes to all students.

The Rev. Alfred Baldwin Jr., president of the ministerial alliance seeking the restrictions, said members of his organization plan to heed what Chadwick has to say.

"I am sure that everyone is going to be listening," Baldwin said. "She is, I guess, considered to be one of the authorities on the book. Whether or not (people) are going to agree is a different story, but they will be listening."