On January 21 at 7pm via Zoom we will meet and discuss the book James by Percival Everett.
Andrew Hill explains why this new book is significant to the conversation about book banning in the United States:
Mark Twain’s story [Huckleberry Finn about] a poor white boy and his enslaved companion — each escaping his own kind of hell — has been banned approximately 54 times since its initial publication in 1884. Many blame the story’s frequent use of the N-word, which shows up about 200 times in the novel.
But in today’s politically charged academic environment, the book is also problematic for some because it’s about the transformation of Huck’s attitude toward Jim. From slave to human. And you can’t get there without talking about race . . .
In James, Everett’s take on the story from the enslaved man’s point of view would hardly pass muster with folks who feel uncomfortable with any book that brings up race.