Mr. Lee

[Linda Anderson]

(04-21-2014 01:56 AM)My Name Is Kate Wrote:  The "n" word is just a word. It sounds very much like the word "niggardly", which I think I recall that some people were trying to get banned from the English language because it is apparently offensive to some people. I wonder if more of those offended people are white than black. I wouldn't mind having my own surname banned from usage because of the mess of unpleasant emotions and memories that it elicits (it having been used like a four-letter word, etc., etc.), but I'm not going to make a push for that to happen. I threw in the personal bit just in case anyone accuses me of being insensitive, to show that I know whereof I speak when I say it's pretty childish when we have to start banning words instead of realizing that we need to do something to change the way we react to them.

The "n" word is just a word like you say but it's the intent behind the way a person uses it which can be insulting and even dangerous. Any attribute that identifies a person such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic background etc. has a derogatory word to describe it.