In black culture, specifically rap and hip hop music, the N word is thrown out like candy at a parade. No one seems offended by Dr. Dre calling his homies a "nigga." Heck give that man a gold record.
Yeah nigga, MC Ren up in this motherfucker
(West West y'all)
Yeah, L.A. niggaz
L.A. niggaz rule the world nigga
Y'all niggaz gotta recognize, ya know i'm sayin'?
Niggaz don't wanna peep game, ya know i'm sayin'?
But this shit come all the way back around here
My nigga Dre, droppin heat rocks on y'all bitch-ass
ya know i'm sayin'? You gotta recognize
L.A. niggaz, connected all over the motherfuckin world, nigga
Recognize this
That's just the first verse of Dr. Dre's L.A. Niggas. Yet, it's Mark Twain who is under attack. I wish Twain was alive today to address this political correct madness. Apparently, it's not as offensive as many want you to believe it is. Dr. Dre appears to use it as some kind of badge of honor.
Or what about Jay Z's "Nigga What Nigga Who."
Nigga what, nigga who?
Nigga what, nigga who?
Switcha flow, getcha dough
Can't fuck with this Roc-a-Fella shit doe
Switcha flow, getcha dough
Can't fuck with this Roc-a-Fella shit doe
So NewSouth books complains Twain used the "N" word 219 times over how many pages? Heck your average rap song would use it many thousands of times more if you were to equal the amount of words in Huck Finn, and I don't hear too many in the rap community offended by its use.
Just like the word nigga is frequently used in rap music, it is passed of as a sign of the times. Mark Twain wrote about what he knew, and he knew slavery having watched a slave killed when he was a boy in Hannibal. For some strange reason, it feels like a few libs are attacking Twain for slavery rather than society at this time. Remember, the word, as nasty is it may be with the exception of its use in rap music apparently, had a much different relevance during Twain's time.
The truth is Mark Twain (Samuel Clemmons) never owned slaves. He found the practice of slavery offensive, and he also became good friends with many black authors including Booker T. Washington (Up From Slavery) and Harriet Beecher Stowe (Uncle Tom's Cabin). If Twain's books encouraged slavery, then perhaps they wouldn't be as celebrated today as they are. They don't. Just the opposite.
If you remember, part of the story of Huck Finn involves a runaway slave named Jim, who changes Huck's mind about slavery. Huck goes from considering turning Jim in to helping him get to Ohio to become a free man. That's what's really missing from this discussion. The story of Huck Finn has an element that hopes people will reconsider their feelings for blacks in America just like Huck Finn was forced to do in his travels as he dealt with the moral dilemma of slavery.
If we are going to attack classic literature, which is often a fictional account of the times and culture used to make a profound statement, then perhaps its time to demand rappers to change their tune as well and hold them to the same standards.
