To this ex marine ("trained killer" to you academics), this game of
"I'm-more-sensitive-than-you-because-of-my-language" is akin to the
Chicago School Board's banning of Huck Fin. Enough already!  I'm of
Germanic ancestry (although quick to add that my family came here AFTER
slavery and BEFORE WWII), and I've been called, "Kraut," "Jerry,"
"Nazi," "Lil' Hitler," "Hun," etc. all my life. My platoon leader and
best friend to this day (who is Black) called me (overly-sensitive
people should stop reading here), his "White Nigger." I do not, repeat,
"Do Not," ever recall being offended by these labels or ostracized by
these remarks, because it was the context in which they were used. None
were hurled in contempt or derision, and I doubt if the currently
inflammatory "white enough" remark was either. But perhaps I am
underly-sensitive. (I once named a black lab, Sambo). So let us
dispatch with name-calling the name callers and return to the important
issues, like whether or not Mark Twain was a homophobic, anti Indian,
Mormon-hating racist.

JV