BANDERSNATCHES
by Steve Steinbock

Honesty and Sensitivity

This past Tuesday, after praising Janet Hutchings and EQMM in her column, Melodie lamented that political correctness is leading too many of us to write (and talk and even THINK) like we’re walking on eggshells. She used a beautiful metaphor of a bodice worn too tight. I had to laugh at the image, until I realized how true it was.

Before I go any further, in my own hypersensitivity I have to explain that I don’t mean to offend. Few decent people would intentionally use language offend any group or person. But there’s a difference between being politely sensitive and being blindly (or blatantly) dishonest.

Words can hurt. Being sensitive when we use words is a good thing. But these days, all too often, the accusation of political incorrectness is more a sign of manipulative subordination — or of an unstable mind — than of any sort of sensitivity.

A number of years ago while teaching a class, I used the word “pedagogy.” (I was probably talking about the relative merits of some teaching technique). One woman in the class rose up, accused me of being a sexist bastard, and stormed out. I approached her afterwards, and tried to find out what I’d done wrong. It was my use of the word “pedagogy.” Not how I used it, but just the fact that I used the word at all.

Don’t ask me to explain how that word is offensive. I’m still baffled.

(Then again, twenty years ago I was verbally beaten by a woman for using the word “hysterical.” If you dig deep, that word does have an origin that some feminists might find problematic. But its use today is no more about the uterus than the word “sodomy” is about an ancient city, or that “missionary position” is about missionaries, or that “spam” is a sandwich meat. Nonetheless, to this day, I can’t say the word without stammering).

Last month there was a brief discussion on the webpages of Golden Age of Detective Fiction about the cancellation of a high school play. The kids of Lakota East High School, near Cincinnati, were preparing for a production of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None.” Then the president of the local NAACP chapter threatened a public demonstration if the play went on.

To be fair, NAACP’s Gary Hines was quoted in The Cincinnati Enquirer as saying:

“What I did was this,” Hines said. “I called to get information on procedures for filing for public demonstration. I did not file. Let’s be clear about this. (School administrators) censored themselves.”

Hmm, I suppose that calling a school district office and hinting at the likelihood of a violent protest isn’t really a threat, any more than say, calling Gary Hines’ office and asking if his insurance and emergency evacuation procedures are up to date.

The reason Mr. Hines wanted to block the play’s production has roots in the original title of the novel on which the play is based. In 1939, when Christie’s novel was first published in the UK, its title was Ten Little Niggers. The following year, when Dodd, Mead published the novel in the US, the title was changed to And Then There Were None (although both the novel and the play have also been published under the title Ten Little Indians).

I’ll admit, I find the title Ten Little Niggers to be jarring. But the title, part of an old 19th century nursery rhyme, wasn’t used by the students of Lakota East High School. Trying to ban or boycott the play is disingenuous.

A few years back, the journal Rethinking Schools published an article about this very play. In it, after a cursory history of Christie’s novel and play, author Sudie Hoffman wrote:

A review of the 2004 book version of Ten Little Indians, now published by St. Martin’s Griffin as And Then There Were None, reveals that editorial revision is still needed.

Editorial revision?!? That’s fine, Professor Hoffman. And when you’re finished, why don’t you clean up Twain, Dickens, and Shakespeare. Then we can remove all references to Germans and Jews from Holocaust literature lest we offend anybody. And while we’re at it, we can rewrite any crime or espionage story that features a Muslim terrorist, an Italian mobster, or a two-bit hoodlum named Steve.

Ultimately — and fortunately for the kids of Lakota East High who worked hard on their play — the community rose up and backed up the kids, the school board reversed its decision to cancel. The show went on.

Speedy Recovery to Doug

Douglas Greene is arguably the most important advocate of the mystery short story since Fred Dannay (Ellery Queen). He’s a great mind, a sweet heart, and I consider him a dear friend. Next week, after Doug has returned home from his surgery, I plan to celebrate his recovery by telling the serendipitous story of how he and I met.