Oh for the love of controversy!

Oh gee! I'm a Lit teacher!! How amazing! 
If I had to teach my students about the novel Huckleberry Finn I would choose the fourth option which is:  You discuss the controversy, and both you and the students use the word. I feel like it is a very important part of the novel. It's not like it's there purely for the purpose of making people uncomfortable. The n-word has a very negative connotation with whites... But I don't think it's as negative to african americans using it. Like the man with the beard said, it's a term of endearment. If you're a bro, you're an n-word. 
I feel like the best way to handle this would be to discuss so everyone can get their feelings off their chest and be able to affect the way we read it. If there are too many problems we won't say the word. End of story. It's up to my students so that I don't put them in that awkward situation.