It appears the state of New York is still “sanitizing” literary excerpts for its state high school regents exam. “State education officials had been doctoring the literary reading samples on state tests to make sure nothing offensive was included. It didn’t matter if it was Anton Chekhov or Isaac Bashevis Singer, state bureaucrats removed references to race, religion, ethnicity, sex, nudity and even alcohol. ‘Jews’ and ‘gentiles’ were excised from Singer. An Annie Dillard excerpt about growing up white in a black area was purged of racial references.”