The Perils of Listening to NPR in the car

"Mommy, what do they mean by 'the N-word'?"

Oh dear.

Can't I have a cup of coffee first?

Okay.

"'The N-word' is a word that is completely not okay to say. It's so not okay, that when people talk about it, they use its initial instead of saying it. The word is " (and here I said the word) "You are not to ever use that word. It is a mean, vile word that has a lot of terrible history behind it."

"But, Mommy, what does it mean?"

"It's a mean word for people with brown skin. Don't ever say it. Not in anger, not in conversation, never. Even if you hear other people using it, you don't use it. And IF you hear other people using it, you tell them to stop, or you tell a grown-up so that they can tell them to stop."


As an aside, I want to let you know that the NPR piece we were listening to at the time was excellent. I hope you'll listen to it. (I came in after the Dr. Laura clip)