* Books are about depicting realistic characters. Real life people swear and curse, so it's natural that characters do so as well. That said, overuse thereof would be decremental to the appeal of the character. Also, slurs and general statements should also viewed against their original timeframe.
Strictly speaking, there is nothing wrong with nigger or negro. Nigger is from niger (latin) and negro is a literal word in spanish (derived from Greek), both mean black.
You can't deny that many colored people, especially those with a particularly dark pigmentation, are in fact (more or less) black.
So, if such a simple word as Black, and the versions thereof, have a bad connotation, then it's because of the context it's been used in, not the word itself.
* On public forums (and in public meetings), you WILL be held accountable for what you say. And, since different words have different meanings to different people, you may be held accountable for slurs.
It's possible that the person using the slur just did not know it's a slur. But, if the subject has at least basic knowledge of English, he should know a lot of them, especially considering the liberal use on (English) tv.
If you MEAN to be harmful, it's only natural that it gets removed.
If you don't mean to step on any toes, it's easiest to just avoid slur- and swear words.
"My knob tastes funny."
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/09/2010 07:03AM by Baudolino.