Huckleberry Finn is a “trending topic” on Twitter today because of the latest controversy surrounding the book by Mark Twain. A Twain scholar is working with a publisher in Alabama to release a new version of the book that would replace the word “nigger” with “slave.” I’m going to use the actual word here once just to show that even though I despise the word, I live in a free country where if I want to use the word, I can. I consider myself a lover of books, and am ashamed to say I’ve never read Huckleberry Finn, but I’ve always been aware of use of the word. What I didn’t know was that it is used 219 times in the book. WOW!

I understand where the guy is coming from. He wants to make it so that the use of the word doesn’t keep people from reading the book. I get it. It’s an offensive word. I wouldn’t want someone coming up to me and calling me the n-word to my face. But I also think that in this context, the word should stay. I do not believe in censorship. I think that people have a right to their opinions and use of words. I may not agree with what you have to say or how you say it, but I would hate to live in a country where I’m not allowed to express myself the way that I wanted to.

I know that this is probably not happening in many public schools today, but I think that this would be a great opportunity for teachers to have a discussion with teens about the word, and about censorship. We need to start turning these things into learning opportunities to get kids thinking. If not they’re going to be relying on their learning experiences from people like Snooki! No offense Snooks! I use her simply because she is now an author and she was the first person who popped into my head.

I would love to hear what you think about this issue! Do you think the book should be changed or kept the way it was written? Why? Let me know by leaving a comment!