Culture Shock Response

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a widely reknowned novel, but it is also one of the most highly disputed and controversial works of literature in our history, if not the most. Constant use of the n-word in both dialogue and narration makes the read awkward for many students and teachers alike. But should this masterpiece novel be banned from highschools? I believe not. Although it is a highly offensive term that is used pervasively, it does not render the book vulgar or obscene. Mark Twain was merely using the dialect that was commonly thrown around in his time period, thus, did not mean to offend or degrade blacks. Some people would argue that only an African-American could understand the hurt and stigma that word carries, but people run into racial slurs all the time. I personally have been called a "filthy spic" or " drug mule" due to my Colombian herritage, but I don't find it terribly offensive. The words are just representation of ignorance, which was plentiful in that time period, also one of which Mark Twain was satiring. Mark Twain was not saying "****** should be hung" or personally insulting any blacks or purposly trying to demean their culture. He was just using realistic dialect that was used in his lifetime, since he was writing this novel as a realist. It's not rational for any black to take use of the n-word as a personal or cultural insult when it was written back in a time when it was socially acceptable and not purely a derrogitory term. Shelly Fisher Fishkin claims that since we do not teach books that use words "kike, honkey, or cracker" we should not teach books that use the n-word either. I disagree with this statement, because a book should not be banned for the sole use of one word, even if it is highly offensive when used in modern speech. The book is not teaching children to use the word; kids should understand that it is still not morally right to say this in the modern world. But the good of the book outweighs the bad in this case, and I believe it should still be taught in schools.