Should Huck Finn Be Allowed To Be Used In High School Literature?

Should the word “nigger” be used in high school literature? That is the tough decision that many high school teachers face when try to decide whether or not to teach The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Huck Finn uses the n word throughout the book to refer to a friend who is a slave. Even though that word can be very offensive, it is a big part of our history that high school students should be mature enough to learn about. Many students do not continue on to college after high school; therefore, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be allowed to be taught in high school. Without the teaching of Huck Finn in high school, teachers would lose a teachable moment for that word, and in order for students to have a better future, we want to understand the past better, including offensive terms like this.

High schools that refuse to teach this book because of the n word are losing a perfect teachable moment. It is an opportunity to teach about how blacks were treated in the past and how that word came along. Back then for whites, it was just what white people called black people. Nowadays it is not okay to call people that, but high school students should be able to read about it and not throw a fit. Most students are already aware of the n word so reading a book that uses it should not be a problem. Teachers should just focus more upon what the book is actually about and relax a little more about the use of the offensive term. Some people just try to change the n word to “slave” to make the word more acceptable, but that is not how the word was used back then, so they do not need to change it