Censorship doesn't change attitudes

     The New York Times and the Associated Press have reported that NewSouth Press in Alabama plans to publish 7,500 copies of a combined edition of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain.  The combined edition of these two novels will not contain the word "nigger."  Please excuse me for using this offensive word.  That will be the only time I will use it in this post.  I included it in case anyone who reads this post does not know what "the N-word" means.  The new edition will use the word "slave" instead of the N-word.
     I disagree with those who call this revision by NewSouth Press a desecration.  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is important American literature, but it is not Holy Scripture.  The reason that the novel is important American literature is that it clearly describes racism and race relations in the United States.  Substituting "slave" for the N-word may change or dilute Twain's message, and may even confuse readers.
     Not all African-Americans who lived in the South before the Civil War were slaves.  In one passage, Huck's father, a lowlife drunk and thief, describes how he once forced a free black man to remove his hat and step off of the sidewalk into the muddy street.  It did not matter to Pap that the man was a college professor, and "knowed everything," in Pap's words.  Pap believed he was superior to the person simply because of race.  Pap is racist, but knows the difference between a slave and a free college professor.  Having him say "slave" instead of the N-word could detract from Twain's comment on the arrogance and irrationality of racism in America.
     The N-word is offensive because it reminds us of offensive racist attitudes.  Taking the N-word out of an important work of American literature will not erase such attitudes.  Those attitudes have not completely disappeared.