I just find the whole thing childish. The idea that you would be emotionally scarred by the mere sound of the syllables, even in a foreign language or an unrelated English word like “niggardly.” That it is utterly forbidden to pronounce the word even in reference, to say “‘nigger’ is an ugly word,” or “I would never call anyone a nigger.” That you, Steve, cannot mention the word *in an article about the word*. To ban schoolchildren from reading “Huckleberry Finn,” a book whose very message is exactly the opposite, of Huck’s transcending the prejudices of his time and discovering the humanity in a runaway slave. (For that matter, we’re not supposed to say “slave” anymore, either: they were “enslaved people.”)

Not too long ago, it was forbidden to utter the words “shit” or “fuck” in public; now they appear in respectable print publications and no one bats an eye. But now this one other word is enough to get you fired and socially shunned. As we’ve been discussing on another thread, all this language policing is not only not helpful but actively harmful to the cause it purports to serve.