Roger Ebert Gets Fired Up Over 'Huck Finn' Censorship, Then Apologizes

Almost 101 years after Mark Twain died, one of his most famous works is causing controversy once again, only this time on Twitter. After news broke Tuesday that publisher NewSouth will release a
new edition of 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' with all 219 N-words excluded, movie critic Roger Ebert reacted with a controversial tweet. He quickly apologized after receiving harsh criticism.
Ebert responded to the 'Huck Finn' announcement on Wednesday by
tweeting to his 300,000-plus followers, "I'd rather be called a N***** than a Slave."
The tweet set off a storm of heated feedback toward the influential critic, describing him as "disrespectful" and "ignorant."
"Fair point, from some1 who's likely to be called neither,"
@urbanbohemian said.
Others accused Ebert of believing he's allowed to take liberties with the word because his wife, Charlie "Chaz" Hammel-Smith, is black.
"R U OUT OF UR freakin head? jus cos ya wife is black dont give u the right to throw tht word around like its nothing. A*******"
@iamichelle said.
Ebert retracted his statement Thursday by conceding that, as people like @urbanbohemian pointed out, he would never be called either word.
"You know, this is very true. I'll never be called a N***** *or* a Slave, so I should have shut the **** up," Ebert
tweeted.
The new edition, 'Mark Twain's Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn: The NewSouth Edition,' is set for release in February.
Did Roger Ebert cross the line?
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Well said Cashman The news reported two dayd ago that the value of the Whitehouse went down 25% There goes the neighborhood.
Let me guess....You spend about 5 hours a day listening to Fox and Rush....R I G H T!
How ignorant and short sighted of both of you. Not every black person is as you see them. I could say that all white people are rude, ill educated and stupid because I see so many of them in my environment acting that way. As for Africa, I don't belong in Africa because my family has been here for 10 generations, just as long as your family unless you are an American Indian who was raped, killed, and stolen from, oh yes, the same white people that raped, killed and stole from my people. Know your history you stereotypically dumb as white folks. a mind is a terrible thing to waste./
How the Hell you know?? You not Black.
Wow, Is that how you feel about black?
There are some INDIVIDUALS who may do that, but there are many who shed the stereotype as best they can and move up in the world. They define themselves outside their color.
So CashmanH8sUrkel, tell me why you hate Steve Urkel.
HA! finally...someone with the guts to say excactly what EVERYONE else knows to be true....Africa is a continent, NOT a Country, Blacks have the highest Highschool drop out rate,Highest number of teen pregnancies, Highest number of violent criminals in prison, Please, enough with the dumbing down of everything by using ebonics, and rap. OH PS: it's Bush's fault.......
I hate Urkel because Urkel hates the country I love. And to the ditz who whined about white folk, blacks sold blacks to white people. In fact, they are now selling blacks to other black folk. And as for injuns, they pretty regularly slaughtered each other over territory. Is it our fault we are smarter and better and beat the living crap out of them? Maybe if they had the brains to develop a written language they wouldn't still be living like cavemen thousands of years after European and Asian were building wonders of the world and traveling across oceans. Darwin's laws apply, and they were not up to the challenge.
How long were you black? So, how would you know?
You are an idiot who doesn't deserve to speak.
Sorry to disappoint you , but I spend half of my day working hard to give my kids the things I didn't have growing up . I spend the other half spoiling my kids , showing them where hard work can take them . So they don't have to grow up living a miserable life like you . Blaming others for your misfortunes .
hhaha... yah agreed.
proving every stereotype? have you even met very many black people? yes some may do that, but definitely not all.
I see you've chosen to do the same about white people. Ignorance knows no color, as evident by all the ignorant post on here by caucasians. ALL black people don't call each other the n word. just like All white poeople don't smell like dogs. Oh and for the caucasians that haven't noticed, or watched the news, or picked up a newspaper, there's white on white crime happening everyday, every hour, in every city in America.
Taking that word out is a HUGE mistake. People who read that book young, NEVER use that word. I know, I had a cast on my L arm at 13 yo, and read HF to keep me occupied. A black English teacher I had loved that I was reading for enjoyment and said that was his first book for fun. I’ve been an avid reader since and that was 30+ years ago.
Karen-There appear to be two Karen’s in here so this it directed towards the first Karen who posted. Check your spelling, grammar and punctuation before insulting other people. Two spelling errors, four punctuation errors, two capitalization errors, so far you have failed any intellectual exam. Maybe you should read Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn as you learn English.
Karen, I'm sorry. There are at least three Karens in here now. The first Karen post was great. The one near the top of page 3 is the Karen who I think has a problem with reality. All other Karens are cool. Whew!
Next we will allow them--whoever to start rewriting the Bible. I believe that is the same as making Mark Twain,s works PC. Oh thats right the Bible has been rewritten and updated by many. So go ahead. You cannot erase something from my mind that I have stored there because I read the original. We just might as well start changing the use of Gay and other words. Just who decided that this was necessary. Who is willing to step up and take credit for altering History. Discraceful and non productive.
Amen, cashman.Ive had enough of black culture being forced down my throat.Blacks have a long way to go befoe the general population RESPECTS what they think. A good place to start would be their language skills.