We’re living in a new era of censorship as publishers try to “clean up” classic works of literature in order to soothe current sensibilities—what many call “woke culture.”
Now “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg has weighed in on the controversy that has received so much attention just this week and has slammed the re-issuing of classic books.
Puffin recently altered books by Roald Dahl, who famously wrote “Matilda,” “James and the Giant Peach,” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” to remove language they deemed offensive.
This was followed by the announcement that Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels are to be reissued with a number of racial references removed and a disclaimer that the books might use terms of attitudes “considered offensive by modern readers”
Whoopi, who is no conservative, is appalled by the censorship, saying, “Look, y’all got to stop this. Just put a disclaimer that says…this was written at this time… Because kids should have the right to read how people thought so that they know how to make the change”.
She went on to point out that “they tried to do this with Mark Twain as well because they were so concerned the n-word was in the book. Well, that’s how they did it. That’s how it was. We don’t want people doing it today and you don’t see it as much. That’s how people learn,” Goldberg continued.
Co-host Sara Haines agreed and said “art more than anything” needs to be left alone when it comes to “stories being told.”
“This will show people when they feel really uncomfortable reading a certain world,” she said. “That impact can be greater than anything else. Leave it alone.”
