If you want to put somebody down, analogize them to the n - - .

The infamy of n - - is - it's a word that has been used to terrorize people, to put people down. But it has also been used in other ways. It's also been used as a way of putting a mirror up to racism.

Go back and take a look at what some black writers were saying in the 1820s, the 1830s. They make mention of how some white people would tell their children, if you don't behave, we're going to put you in the n - - seat. If you don't behave, we are going to make you sit with the n - - s. That's why we know that, by then, the word had become a slur.

In 1619, when there are reports about the first blacks brought to British North America, they are referred to as N-I-G-G-U-H-S. Well, it doesn't seem that that was meant in a derogatory way. It seems merely descriptive.

If you want to put somebody down, analogize them to the n - - .

What people should do is explain to their friends, to their neighbors how they feel when they confront the word n - - and why they feel the way they feel.

I was born in Columbia in 1954, the year the Supreme Court invalidated racial segregation in public schools. I visited frequently but did not live there.