If I were black, and if I had anything against the classic “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and if I were against people reading the book — and those are a lot of ifs — the N-word, used frequently in the book, would not be high on my list of objections.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t the N-word should be part of anyone’s vocabulary.

But I can understand its use, as with curse words, in literature and art. Certain words convey things that need to be conveyed better than any other word.

So like you, I see the N-word in a book or hear it occasionally coming from a car booming down the streets of Muskogee.

And at times, that’s the realistic word to use, as it’s used in “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Muskogee Little Theatre is putting on the play version of the book. I’m in the play, and I and other players use the N-word a few times.

I’ve discussed with other players whether many blacks in Muskogee will come to see the play and if they come, what they’ll think of it. We have four black actors in the play, so their families and friends will come.

But in 2001 — and I hate to bring this up again — Muskogee High School took “To Kill a Mockingbird” off the freshman required reading list. Administrators said they had received “many” complaints over the years of the use of the N-word in the book.

But here’s what I would object to in “To Kill a Mockingbird” if I were black and objecting:

• The blacks in the book are pretty much stereotyped.

• The blacks in the book defer to whites in everything.

• The book doesn’t have any black heroes. The heroes are white.

Blacks in Muskogee, if they come to the play, will have to leave their comfort zone to appreciate what the play has to say, and older blacks will have to tolerate some unpleasant memories.

So if few blacks show up for the play, I won’t blame them, and I commend the ones who come.

I don’t like leaving my comfort zone.