The English professor who taught me Huck Finn emphasis the point that Samuel Clemens used the word extensively to emphasis that racism was still a problem in american several decades after the civil war.<br/><br/>He had us just say N when reading aloud in class, but he certainly wouldn't approve of censoring the book.<br/><br/>May I propose using negro as the neutral term, and for the offensive one, n---- could be an acceptable alternative.<br/><br/>When I wrote An Invisible Knife and web published it in Sabledrake Magazine, Christine Morgan asked if I'd consider a fictional word in it's place.  I didn't wish to do so because it would steal them impact of the hatred my character faced.