The "N-Word" and Mark Twain

This is getting to be old news, but I've yet to really decide how I feel on the matter.  The Afterword is telling of a new edition of Huck Finn that will be published with "slave" in place of "nigger"... all 219 times.  Also on the chopping block is the word "injun" to be replaced with "slave" as well.

I can see both sides as to why the words should be replaced and why they should be kept the same.  Ultimately I think my feelings lie in the purist realm of, "leave it alone."  Anything else will be nothing more than an affectation of politically correct semantics which would go against the reality Twain was trying to write about.  Or at least that is how I think I feel.

Any one else have thoughts on the matter?