Classrooms grapple with racial slurs in classic American novels

After years of hearing the 'N-word' read from the texts of writers such as Mark Twain (image shown) and William Faulkner, US students are increasingly taking a stand. Photo: TNS

The recent dismissal of a white New York professor for reading aloud the "N-word" from a Mark Twain novel has shone a spotlight on the use of racial slurs in American classrooms.

It has renewed a long-standing debate about how books from some of the United States' most famous authors should be taught during an age of reckoning with racial injustice.