Hi Kit! 

May I venture a reply? I'd say it's not a matter of guilt or fear at all, but a matter of taste. It's an ugly word, with a history and a number of contextual usages to be sure, usages both to inflict harm (by bigoted whites) and to dissipate it (by victimized blacks), but either way, at root it's an ugly word, and lots of folks would rather not say or spell it out if they don't absolutely have to. You may not believe that a word can be ugly and therefore unpleasant to utter or spell out, but those of us who do would put the n- word near the top of the list. Way above the f- word. 

My two cents. 

Ben 




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kit Barry" <[log in to unmask]> 
To: [log in to unmask] 
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 4:46:18 PM 
Subject: I am language confused - 

Forum, 

Why in a rational, intelligent conversation, is the euphemism "N word" = 
being used 
in place of "nigger" ? 

Is this word over-empowered? 

Is this euphemism a measure of guilt? Of fear? Of what? 

Kit