The N-Word

No one likes the N-Word.
I can't help but think of comedian Louis C.K. talking about people using the phrase "N-word". You can't replace it with that phrase. You know what is being said. It was just put in your head. The word is ugly and controversial when written down (and when it's said for that matter). It is the main, if not only reason, the book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn is banned in schools and libraries across the country. People don't like the word, it offends them and it frightens them. I recently came across an column through the Banned Books Week fan page on Facebook that talks about the across the board fear and loathing of this book. It also mentioned a book that is out now that tries to remedy the "problem". Take a look at this book:

Looks harmless, right? Just another copy of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Not so. This just happens to be the NewSouth edition of the book that takes the word "nigger" and replaces it with "slave". The person that is doing it is a Twain scholar by the name of Alan Gribben. He has good intentions. He did this revision in the hopes that teachers and readers who either can't teach the book or don't want to read the book because of the language will now be able to.
Now, I am writing this as a person who has not read this book.
Yes, I said it. I haven't read this book. Now, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't read it (the original or the revised), or maybe you've already made up your mind on the matter. Not my place to say, but there are two sides to this story that I would like to point out. The column I mentioned before is aghast at the prospect of a national treasure being revised, edited and the big "C" word, censored.
I tend to lean this way. Why should we change something that was written in a way on purpose? The story isn't about pleasant country living. It's about the South, which was not, and in places still is not, a very nice place for African American people. This book gives us a look into a time, place and situation that isn't pretty, isn't nice and is not politically correct with the names of people who are not white. However, I also see this guy's intentions. He sees that people are afraid of this word, that some teachers can't even teach the book because of this word and is trying to take the fear out of it so that more people can read and be exposed to the book. However, is the word "slave" really more positive or less ugly than the word "nigger"? I guess that is in the eye of the beholder. In the column mentioned above a Harvard Law professor who wrote a book titled "Nigger" was quoted as saying "I am addressing the contention that the presence of nigger alone is sufficient to taint Huckleberry Finn or any other text. I am addressing those who contend that nigger has no proper place in American culture and who thus desire to erase the N-word totally, without qualification, from the cultural landscape. I am addressing parents who, in numerous locales, have demanded the removal of Huckleberry Finn from syllabi solely on the basis of the presence of the N-word--without having read the novel themselves, without having investigated the way in which it is being explored in class, and without considering the possibilities opened up by the close study of a text that confronts so dramatically the ugliness of slavery and racism." In other words, why not study this word and the history that made it, and a good place to start is Huck Finn. Explore it, get to know its origins, learn about history, not just about the shiny, happy parts, and don't be afraid of something, even if it is ugly and controversial.