First Post DC Newbie Wanting to be DOM

[WashDC_DOM]

I have been reading posts on here for awhile now, and though I'd join in and say hi.

I am interested in eventually exploring being DOM to a woman, and I really like the Big Beautiful Women.

Just learning about this though.

Nice forum, I hope to become a regular.

I am 38 years old, and a male

 

[myinnerslut]

hi, and welcome to lit

 

[Etoile]

Greeting from Fairfax "We Hate The Rest of Virginia Can We Please Be Part of DC Again" County.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

Greeting from Fairfax "We Hate The Rest of Virginia Can We Please Be Part of DC Again" County.

Ahh, yes, Fairfax County, VA, where a local high school banned Huckleberry Finn because it used the "N" word in (a) a completely standard usage for the time of the occurrences it chronicled, (b) part of an ongoing effort in Twain's writings to decrease prejudice, and (c) show Huck how inequality and slavery were wrong.

By the way, that was Samuel L. Clemens High School... and we do all know that S.L. Clemens was Mark Twain's real name - right?

 

[HottieMama]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[CutieMouse]

Ahh, yes, Fairfax County, VA, where a local high school banned Huckleberry Finn because it used the "N" word in (a) a completely standard usage for the time of the occurrences it chronicled, (b) part of an ongoing effort in Twain's writings to decrease prejudice, and (c) show Huck how inequality and slavery were wrong.

By the way, that was Samuel L. Clemens High School... and we do all know that S.L. Clemens was Mark Twain's real name - right?

Welcome to Lit.

(This post amused me greatly. )

 

[rosco rathbone]

As a native of Loudoun County, I resent the disrespect shown to NOVA in this thread.

 

[Etoile]

As a native of Loudoun County, I resent the disrespect shown to NOVA in this thread.

It wasn't me, man. I love Northern Virginia. Even though I grew up in Maryland, I consider myself a Virginian now. I was just being nasty about the REST of Virginia. I'm not sure what Winston54's issue is.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

It wasn't me, man. I love Northern Virginia. Even though I grew up in Maryland, I consider myself a Virginian now. I was just being nasty about the REST of Virginia. I'm not sure what Winston54's issue is.

Actually, my issue in that post is twofold: First, the censorship/banning of one of the greatest American novels of the 19th century; second, the unhappy irony of that censorship occurring in a high school named for the author of the book banned. It's annoyed the hell out of me since I first learned of it some 20 years ago, and Fairfax County, VA, has thus become for me one a symbol of the idiocy, hypocrisy, and shortsightedness of the political correctness crowd.

I understand it's beautiful country, with some really wonderful people - I just have that somewhat reasoned, somewhat unreasoning prejudice.

 

[Etoile]

Actually, my issue in that post is twofold: First, the censorship/banning of one of the greatest American novels of the 19th century; second, the unhappy irony of that censorship occurring in a high school named for the author of the book banned. It's annoyed the hell out of me since I first learned of it some 20 years ago, and Fairfax County, VA, has thus become for me one a symbol of the idiocy, hypocrisy, and shortsightedness of the political correctness crowd.

I understand it's beautiful country, with some really wonderful people - I just have that somewhat reasoned, somewhat unreasoning prejudice.

I did a little digging, and Fairfax County has never had a school of any level named after Samuel Clemens, Samuel L. Clemens, S.L. Clemens, Mark Twain, or any other related person or character.

That's not to say that Huckleberry Finn hasn't been banned - it was first banned in 1885 by the Concord Public Library in Massachusetts, and has been banned by countless other places. And a group called Parents Against Bad Books in Schools is active in Fairfax County, VA public schools, but they have not challenged The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Sorry to dash that for you there, but I suspect you are either thinking of a place other than Fairfax County, Virginia - or you have been following an urban myth for 20 years.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

I did a little digging, and Fairfax County has never had a school of any level named after Samuel Clemens, Samuel L. Clemens, S.L. Clemens, Mark Twain, or any other related person or character.

That's not to say that Huckleberry Finn hasn't been banned - it was first banned in 1885 by the Concord Public Library in Massachusetts, and has been banned by countless other places. And a group called Parents Against Bad Books in Schools is active in Fairfax County, VA public schools, but they have not challenged The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Sorry to dash that for you there, but I suspect you are either thinking of a place other than Fairfax County, Virginia - or you have been following an urban myth for 20 years.

Not to argue overmuch about a topic very much a hijack of this thread, but I took a quick tour through Google and found the following:
"It has been removed from reading lists in schools ranging from Texas to Pennsylvania (including, ironically, the Mark Twain Intermediate School in Fairfax, Virginia)." A PBS.org teacher's guide to Huck Finn.

From the website of Fairfax County Public Schools, click "Schools and Centers;" in the first search box, leave it at "School or Center" and enter "Twain" in the second box, and you get
Twain MS (Cluster: 5) (Grades: 7-8) 4700 Franconia Rd. Alexandria, VA 22310 703-313-3700 Principal: Carol L. Robinson and some other information.

I don't recall now where I originally found the information, and I've obviously mentally misplaced some of it (remembering the school name as Samuel L. Clemens High School when it was Mark Twain Intermediate or Middle School {level designations have changed a lot in the past 20-25 years or so, lol}). However, I'm relatively certain that the original source material I used was a reputable educational journal, since I used the information in a paper I was writing in a College of Education class on censorship in public schools in 1986.

 

[Etoile]

Not to argue overmuch about a topic very much a hijack of this thread

I'm thinking it might be up for grabs, so far he's a one-hit wonder.

I bow to your superior Google-fu! With the information you included I found that it may never actually have been banned - an "administrative aide" said that it was racist trash, and apparently he had the school's "human rights committee" backing him up...but the superintendent kept it in the curriculum. This was in April 1982.
April 9th: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800EFDD1339F93AA35757C0A964948260
April 13th: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980CE5D61339F930A25757C0A964948260

It says the committee planned to appeal but no idea if that actually happened. The NYTimes stories appear to be contemporary articles; it looks like the story may have gotten twisted over the years - in July 2003 it was reportedly "the principal" who called for the removal: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_14_55/ai_105408307

However from what I can find, it was pretty much universally this guy John Wallace who was making a stink. It's ironic that he worked at a school named for Mark Twain (and it just seems weird to name a school after a pseudonym, but that's another story), but I don't think one guy's crusade can necessarily depict an entire county's views. As I mentioned, Fairfax County is pretty damn liberal...we really would do much better as part of Maryland or DC! Virginia may be a red state, but Northern Virginia is VERY blue...we voted strongly for Gore and Kerry.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

I'm thinking it might be up for grabs, so far he's a one-hit wonder.

I bow to your superior Google-fu! With the information you included I found that it may never actually have been banned - an "administrative aide" said that it was racist trash, and apparently he had the school's "human rights committee" backing him up...but the superintendent kept it in the curriculum. This was in April 1982.
April 9th: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800EFDD1339F93AA35757C0A964948260
April 13th: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980CE5D61339F930A25757C0A964948260

It says the committee planned to appeal but no idea if that actually happened. The NYTimes stories appear to be contemporary articles; it looks like the story may have gotten twisted over the years - in July 2003 it was reportedly "the principal" who called for the removal: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_14_55/ai_105408307

However from what I can find, it was pretty much universally this guy John Wallace who was making a stink. It's ironic that he worked at a school named for Mark Twain (and it just seems weird to name a school after a pseudonym, but that's another story), but I don't think one guy's crusade can necessarily depict an entire county's views. As I mentioned, Fairfax County is pretty damn liberal...we really would do much better as part of Maryland or DC! Virginia may be a red state, but Northern Virginia is VERY blue...we voted strongly for Gore and Kerry.

Wow - you did some great Google-fu there yourself (or other search wizardry)!

Interesting... as Arte Johnson used to say, "Verrrrry innnnteressstingggg..." Points for me to ponder in the wee hours now:

WTF is an administrative aide? The closest I can figure, after a dozen years teaching in public schools, is a secretary or bookkeeper... so what's he doing as chairman of the school's Human Rights Committee (whatever TF *that* is!)?

What about Huck is racist? (At least to anyone who's read the damn book!) The entire point of the book, like Puddn'head Wilson, is anti-racism and anti-slavery! Oh... go back to the second sentence of this paragraph. They'd have to actually read the whole book, and think, not just react to individual words. <Sigh>

As far as liberalism v. conservatism goes, I'm kind of at a loss regarding that, too. I consider myself a conservative in almost every way - but my conservatism regarding censorship ends up with a belief that censorship does nothing but degrade those whose (reading/viewing/etc.) is being controlled by the beliefs of others who have set themselves above them. I believe that an informed adult is much more likely to be responsible to himself, his family, and his community than one who has been carefully fed tiny spoonfuls of exactly what someone else thinks he should know...