After reading Gary Wechter’s commentary (“Yes, I’ve used the N-word,” July 4), I wonder what progress we have made in our understanding of racial intolerance? How could it not have occurred to Wechter that the reason the African American man did not appear indignant about “cousin Margie” calling him “nigger” did not mean he thought it was OK and acceptable? The man was raised in an era and culture where “steppin and fetchin” and “yes ma’am” was the required response of a black man to a white woman. Either that or risk being hassled by the police for being “uppity.”
Shame on Wechter. Shame on the South. Shame on us all.
This article appears in Jul 11-18, 2013.