N is for - Slave

To be honest, I do not remember all of the details of Huckleberry Finn; but whenever the title comes to mind, I think to myself "I like that book." There has been great controversy in schools about the use of a book like Huck Finn which includes the word nigger hundreds of times, but I do not quite understand the controversy. Yes, nigger is not a politically correct word. Why? Because it was used for hundreds of years as a demeaning word for Blacks during slavery and it is still used today. But, never fear! New South Books has come up with the perfect solution: change the word nigger to slave. Completely re-write history, and the problem is solved. Huck Finn is now A ok for the classroom.

First off the world slave and nigger are not interchangeable words. Both of these words have their own distinct history. The fact that someone that of this "solution" is a slap in the face to our American history. No our history is not always great despite what you might read in your glossed up history books, and changing Huck Finn is another form of removing discrimination and hatred from our history. The problem with changing history is that it creates a false understanding of the present. Imagine a generation of children who do not understand the complexities of the word nigger. At this moment of time, I have plenty of intelligent associates who know the history of the word and think that race is not an issue. I can only imagine how bad tolerance and understanding will become if we continue to erase the foundations of our past.

For me, the bigger issue with using books with this type of language in the text is the classroom behavior. This is largely dependent upon the teacher who is guiding the conversation for the students. When I was younger our teacher prefaced the book with the history of the word nigger, and we had a conversation about classroom etiquette. No student, regardless of race, was allowed to use the N word while reading the book out of respect for the classroom and our peers. We all survived, and we all learned a lesson. Protecting your children from the truth will not make them better people. Hiding this truth only leads to ignorance, misunderstanding, and disrespect.