Folks;  as most will have understood but as apparently a few are
misconstruing (as communicated in private notes), I am certainly not arguing
that Twain did not approve of, or use, the term "nigger."  Yes, it turns up
regularly in his correspondence, journals, and so on.  And of course, he
also used "nigger" over 200 times in Huck Finn.  I was not questioning that,
although the concept of his "approval" is difficult to understand.  I would
say, at the very least, that he appeared to be quite comfortable with the
term, since it shows up in many other works besides HF, like PW.

So first off, to be clear, yes, I was aware of the fact that he uses the "N"
word.

I was talking about the name "Nigger Jim"--which he does not use in the
novel.  I was unaware of what Barb is pointing out--that it turns up in
interviews of 1884.  Her point that his use of the term "Nigger Jim" is
still disputable, given the nature of the interviews, is worth making.
Maybe Gary Scharnhorst can give us some insight into that one--Twain's use
of "Nigger Jim" in interviews.  I suppose we can give those transcribers the
benefit of the doubt, however, especially if it shows up in several
different places.

Ironically I mentioned any of this, simply to try and alleviate the storm of
protest and vitriol that bringing up this topic would initiate--especially
since, as I mention, this is pretty well plowed ground for those of us who
have been on here a few years.

Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
Saint Louis University