It wasn't always a joke 

OK, I read this today over my chili verde and eggs (“Yes, I’ve used the N-word,” July 4). What I’m getting out of the Paula Deen deal is that she did not own up to it. She tried beating around the bush by saying that it was long ago. She went on to say she’s an old woman from the South. So that makes it OK?

When I was a kid in Tulare, I had gone through the same line of racial jokes. One day I said one of those jokes with one of my black friends standing there. It was that very moment that I realized that I was being ignorant. From that moment on, I knew it’s not cool to joke like that. Maybe I was joking around, but those before me were not joking around. I don’t care if it’s a nursery rhyme; it doesn’t make it right.

I’m a Mexican born in Hanford. I’ve been called a “wetback,” but I’ve never crossed a river. When I was a kid, that hurt, and I did not understand, so I would fight. I still hear that now, but I don’t get as mad. It just trips me out someone could be so hateful. So if I don’t feel right with someone calling me a “wetback,” then why should I feel right with anyone using other racist language?

Plain and simple: We are in 2013. If you still have problems with the culture around you, then get some help! Look around you; these humans are fighting wars for you, protecting you. Yes, we have some bad apples here and there, but I don’t say everyone is bad.

Look, I know how to forgive, but if you don’t know how to apologize, then that’s on you! I still love her cooking and still own her pans! I did not sign her off; corporate America signed her off. Hey y’all!