Regent Censorship

When sensitivity goes overboard: this is an extreme degree of sanitizing of literary passages in the NY Regents exams [NYTimes
registration required]. There is a line between choosing not to use offensive texts and butchering texts, without the authors permission, and without indication that the passages were edited. In many of the cases described, the meaning of the passage is lost. The types of changes being made go beyond abridgement, which may be a necessary evil on a timed exam. Mentions of race, religion, sex, and alcohol are cut, and in one case the word “fat” was replaced with “heavy”, to be more sensitive. The people who are pushing these types of changes are taking what started decades ago as a push to prevent openly racist, hostile texts from being used in standardized tests and are trying to banish any slightly uncomfortable ideas.
Beyond the ridiculousness of the edits being made, the edited versions would seem to work against those students who had actually read the texts in question and have to choose between answering based on what the actual book says, and what the passage they are given says. If the literature in question is really unacceptable for “children” (as these high-school seniors are being labelled), then use passages that are acceptable. If existing literature is going to be torn apart in this way, then use the editing time to create original passages, which would have the tangential advantage of being equally novel to all of the students being tested.
Finally, to be an idealist for a moment, manipulating an author’s work in this way isn’t intellectually honest, and with plagiarism running rampant through schools and colleges, wouldn’t it be a good idea to make sure that the educational system is setting the right example? [via Arts & Letters Daily]