I was raised to believe that “nigger”-like “kike” or “gook”-is a fighting word. I was raised to believe that word “nigger” must never be uttered out loud. My forehead pinches, and my stomach tenses. The word “nigger” makes me extremely uncomfortable. In the places where I might use the words “guy”, “person” or “dude,” he was using the word “nigger.” One, went down an aisle, out of my sight, began talking loudly on his cell phone. There was an elderly white man behind the counter, along with a younger black woman. My husband and I were in a hardware store trying to have some keys copies.
