Watch CBS News

DeBlog: Is It Right To Take 'N' Word Out Of Huck Finn?

By Jason DeRusha, WCCO-TV 

A new edition of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is about to hit the market, without the "n" word.

According to the story on our website, the "n" word appears in Huck Finn 219 times.

Alan Gribben, the scholar releasing the new version told Publishers Weekly, "This is not an effort to render Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn colorblind," said Gribben, speaking from his office at Auburn University at Montgomery, where he's spent most of the past 20 years heading the English department.

"Race matters in these books. It's a matter of how you express that in the 21st century," he said.

There's no question that the repeated appearance of the "n" word draws attention in today's classrooms. A parent asked St. Louis Park schools to remove Huck Finn from the required reading list but was denied.

Still, Gribben's idea to replace the word with "slave" is to keep the literary discussion of the book alive, by removing the distraction of the "n" word.

So what do you think? Is it OK to mess with a classic piece of literature? Is this political correctness gone too far? Share your thoughts in the comments and watch Good Question at 10!

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.