DaShaun Williams
Mr. Viola
English 2

The “N” word should not be removed from the book Huckleberry Finn because it does not affect racism. Mark twain once described the difference between the almost right word and the right word. He could have used other derogatory words of the period such as “darky,” but chose not to. The book does not stress the “N” word in a racist way, the word is in there for a reason, because of the impact it had in that time period. Randall Kennedy, a Harvard law School professor and author of a book in the history of the racial epithet in question, says that the term is historically appropriate and that “trying to erase the word from our society is profoundly, profoundly wrong.” Removing the “N” word can actually change the text in such a way that it loses its importance as literature. The word should not be removed because that would just be taking away from the books true meaning and how Twain wanted the book to be understood, and the situations of that time period. Twain put the word there because he wanted people to struggle with it. “N*****, which appears in the book more than 200 times, was a common racial epithet in the antebellum south, used by Mark Twain as a part of his characters vernacular speech and as a reflection of mid-century social attitudes along the Mississippi River.” ( Second article ) Huckleberry Finn actually stands out as a powerful indictment of slavery (with Jim its most noble character), of using its contested