Censoring the 'n'-word

All throughout the novel Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, I was absolutely disgusted by the racism which dripped from each sentence uttered by the characters. Dr. Gribben from the University of Auburn said, "We may applaud Twain's ability as a prominent American literary realist to record the speech of a particular region during a specific historical era, but abusive racial insults that bear distinct connotations of permanent inferiority nonetheless repulse modern-day readers." I absolutely agree. But is there anything we can do about it? History has already been written. George Santayana - a famous philosopher - said,

"those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

I am sure that slavery will never come back to the United States, but Santayana's point is that we cannot just forget about things that happened long ago. It wouldn't make sense to disregard a part of history - merely because it is appalling.

Therefore, it wouldn't make sense to remove the 'n' - word, or 'injun', from Mark Twain's work, Huckleberry Finn. First of all, it would distort the past, to hide our feelings from what was and what cannot be changed. Second of all, it would be taking away an important part of the work, which creates a feeling of disgust, yet approval when Huck distances himself from society, and loses the racism which was taught to him.

In conclusion, as much as I am opposed to the 'n'-word, I would have to say that it should be left in Huckleberry Finn. Yes, racism is completely alien, and wrong. But Mark Twain put it in for a reason, "Twain himself was a passionate critic of American racism" (Benedicte Page). He wrote down history in a way which would keep it from being forgotten, and who are we to change a great writer's story?