Any successful black person will have to face suspicion within his or her own community about his or her loyalty to other blacks.

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.

I will say go into the world and try to find good people that feel genuine affection and love for you, and disregard everything else about their background.

In elite, primarily white institutions, there are many blacks who have white wives. So much so that sometimes there is almost the assumption that I would be married to a white woman.

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.

Any successful black person will have to face suspicion within his or her own community about his or her loyalty to other blacks.

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.