The Record: Sanitized Santa THE Declaration of Independence
boldly states, "All men are created equal." We know now that at
the time the declaration was written in 1776, "all men" did not
include slaves, Native Americans or, for that matter, women.
That does not detract from the declaration's historic and
cultural significance. Such documents must be seen in the
context of their times. The same goes for literary works. A very
familiar and now unacceptable racial epithet fills the pages of
Mark Twain's classic "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." That
term was common during the period in which the novel was set,
1835 to 1845, and also when it was written in 1884. Also during
the 1800s, Charles Dickens published another classic work,
"Oliver Twist." The novel's well-known villain, Fagin, is
routinely referred to as simply "the Jew." Again, the dismissive
reference was common during the era. Even revolutionary
documents and great books reflect the times in which they were
written. That brings us to the classic