Dr. Laura:

I want to share some thoughts with you on the N-Word.  First my background.  I’m a black male, republican, and live in South Carolina.  I am the family Historian and I document my family’s History in America back to the 1830s.  I have at least 10% white blood-line and it is not a result of love.  Let me also say that I spent half my childhood in Chicago and the other half in Atlanta.  I was first called the N-Word by a white female in Chicago at the six.  I have been called the N-Word (this includes “colored boy”) by white men in the past few years to my face and not as a term of endearment.  So, now you have a little more of my background.

Now, to get to the point.  If someone lives in your household that you know loves and cares for you but they call you out-of-your name, you probably wouldn’t take it personal.  That is because you know they love you.  If someone on the street that you didn’t know called you the same thing, you would probably be upset.  The use of the N-Word follows this rationale.  A black to a black is like being in a family with the same understanding.  When someone outside of this family uses it, doesn’t carry the same feeling.

In addition, it amazes me how people (white and black) could think that just because we now have a black President, that is going to erase over 400 years of pain and suffering.  That N-word coming from a white will never be acceptable given the history that it has.  It shouldn’t be used by blacks either.  So, it surely would not be acceptable for you.  Although I was not around for 400 years, I still feel the sting of racism every day.  I work in an industry and deal with hundreds of businesses where I see racism and sexism every day.  I see sales people of ANY color (mostly men), accounting professionals (almost always white women), and ownership and executives that are almost always white men.  In my industry from VA to GA (hundreds of businesses), I have seen 1 black owner, two white female owners, and only 1 white female executive.  No blacks in management???  I want you to tell me again that the N-Word doesn’t haven’t meaning.