Sam Gwynn makes a good point, based from his teaching experience, in the Book Haven article. Because the word is so loaded it's nearly impossible to use Huck Finn in the classroom. In a world in which Texas rewrites history to replace Thomas Jefferson with Rush Limbaugh because of a letter Jefferson wrote about separation of church and state, and Virginia uses "textbooks" claiming African Americans fought for the South, it's hard to call the word change PC run amok. If the change will make it easier to teach Huck Finn it's probably worth it, regrettable as it is. It can always be changed back.
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