The Jim Dilemma

Especially in academia, controversy rages over the merits or evils of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , in particular its portrayal of Jim, the runaway slave. Opponents disrupt classes and carry picket signs, objecting with strong emotion that Jim is no fit model for African American youth of today. In continuing outcries, they claim that he and the dark period of American history he portrays are best forgotten. That time has gone, Jim's opponents charge. This is a new day. But is it