Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you.

   Famous American author Mark Twain is defenseless against the latest criticism of his book, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Over 100 years after his death, Twain’s book has been judged as inappropriate for use in the classroom due to the repeated use of the N-word. However, revising the story to remove this word would destroy the cultural value of the classic.

   Twain is known for his effective use of dialect and colloquial language in his works. It allows readers to better understand the setting of the book and become hooked on the events. If the N-word is removed from the novel as far as classroom use is concerned, students may miss an important aspect of life in the early 1800s.

   Also, the story’s focus is not solely based on the idea of slavery. There are many other crucial historical references that can be discussed when reading this book.

   Although many people believe that the N-word is offensive, and it clearly is in today’s society, Twain did not use it in this manner in “Huckleberry Finn” as a personal opinion. In fact, Twain was not at all racist and used the term exclusively for cultural value. According to www.guardian.co.uk, he was friends with African American educator Booker T. Washington and also helped fund the college education of one of Yale’s first African American students.

   While supporters of this new censorship argue that it would protect students from the use of obscene language and discourage its use, getting rid of the N-word in this case is one step closer to changing history. For example, while the use of this word is not appropriate for this article, it is necessary in Twain’s book in order to demonstrate historical accuracy. If every bad or shocking piece of history was removed from the books, the impact and meaning of the events would be completely altered.

   High school students should be mature enough to realize that the use of this word in classroom discussions is not an encouragement to use it in their own day-to-day vocabulary, but instead an explanation of how it applied to daily life 200 years ago.