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I would need to say that I oppose censorship in any form but I don't think that applies here, as they are not banning the book just changing it slightly. Also I think that the term 'slave' might be just as offensive to some, so what do they gain. What concernes me is that this kind of change in the original language (translatiions are another matter) might lead others to alter works to be less offensive to some hypothetical audience. Can you imagine 'Merchant of Venice' where all the Christians were nice to Shylock with a big group hug at the end of the trial? Many of these works were ment to shock and awaken people to the inequities and abuse that was happening in society. 'A Christmas Carol' was described as a 'Sledge Hammer' to expose class differences in England of the time. 'South Pacific' and 'Show Boat' were both openly critical of bigotry and discrimination. If any of these were to be made PC they would be to loose the intended message. Perhaps Mark Twain used that language to emphasize the conditions that existed at the time, to change it would dilute that message. As far as useing the works in a classroom use the original and let the students express their own feelings about it, shielding them is worse than exposure.
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