Who Am I to Judge?

After discussing major themes in Huck Finn nearly two weeks ago, I have finally digested all the information. Our discussion forced me to look at the work, Mark Twain, and myself to discover if this  work was racist, or instead a criticism of racism. For a long time, four years to be exact, I have considered this book to be a criticism of racism. I believed Mark Twain was so disgusted with society that he used satire to poke a hole in the veil of the times. How could a man who depicted such rich, multi-dimensional black characters such as Jim be a racist himself?

Reading this book for the second time, with a set of older more globally aware eyes got my gears turning. I have become a critical thinker, an extreme devil's advocate of myself and the world around me. I rarely make decisions without asking myself "what if" or how doing the opposite would affect things. With this view, I set to read Huck Finn in a way I hadn't before. I was strived to be unbiased.

After pouring over the book, analyzing Twain's language, and agonizing over my decision, I have come to one. Maybe this has been said before, and maybe everyone knows this, but it is significant enough to point out again. What if Huck's conscience agonizing over what his heart believes is right and what his upbringing and society tell him is right is actually a mirror of what Twain's internal struggle was? Is it possible that Twain used his most famous novel as a way to plot out his decision? I'm here to say yes. I believe Twain used Huck as a character to show his own internal struggle of what society told him was right (i.e. slavery, racism, degradation of all black people) and what his heart told him was true (i.e. black people are people all the same, regardless of their skin color).

Jim is a golden-hearted man. The only reason Huck ever considers this to be false is that he also happens to be black. Maybe Huck's internal struggle is representative of the struggle many people had, instead of just Twain himself. Twain started a conversation about racism in this country that we still are engaged in today.

This realization made me take a look in the mirror. Am I unconsciously racist? Do I racially profile? I was born and raised in Florida, a place where there are people that are white, black, purple, and green. My parents were adamant in raising someone who respects races for whoever they want to be. Actually, someone who respects people for whoever they want to be. Who am I to judge someone based on anything, especially the way they look? I am just a person trying to find my place in life. Everyone is their own person, searching for whatever desire they pursue. I am in no position to judge.

I am not blind to the fact that racism still exists in this country, and moreover this planet. I don't pretend that I have ever been subject to racism as a white girl from a prep school in the upper middle class. But I am firmly against judgment of people. Sexual orientation, race, religion, beliefs, gender identification are all things I cannot possibly choose for another person. So why should I judge them for it?