Jon Stewart Takes On 'Huckleberry Finn' N-Word Controversy

WATCH: Jon Stewart Takes On 'Huckleberry Finn' N-Word Controversy

Last night on "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart took on the recent 'Huckleberry Finn' controversy, speaking with "Senior Black Correspondent" Larry Wilmore about NewSouth Books decision to publish a version of Mark Twain's classic text with every instance of the "n-word" replaced by the word "slave."

"Well, congratulations on the promotion, Jim," Wilmore said. "Wow, this is a huge upgrade, from nigger to slave. Yeah, that's like a show going from W.B. to U.P.N."

Stewart egged Wilmore on by suggesting that the new edits make the book less "uncomfortable," and by citing other logic used by NewSouth Books to expurgate "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

"Look, Mark Twain put that word in for a reason," Wilmore said convincingly. "The n-word speaks to a society that casually dehumanized black people. Slave was just a job description. And it's not even accurate -- in the book JIm is no longer a slave, he ran away. Twain's point is that he can't run away from being a nigger."

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