Who is blind to the horror of N-words?

Until students grasp that someone writing in 1899 had a different outlook on the world from a student in 2020, they deserve only a failing grade. What was acceptable in 1899 may well be unacceptable in 2020: but they need to consider this: what opinions that we in 2020 consider acceptable will be regarded as outrageous and inexcusable in 2100? Whilst nobody in 2020 should consider using the N-word to describe or refer to an individual who happens to be on the darker end of the cline in skin pigmentation, students need to be able to grasp that it was quite normal terminology at the time it was written in 'Heart of Darkness'. If Conrad were alive today he wouldn't have used it, but he wasn't. Such narrow-minded thought as displayed by the students does not reflect well on their capacity to comprehend what they are studying.