this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2026
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I grew up in Kentucky in the 80s and I grew up calling it a racial slur... and there was no shame around my neighborhood in calling it that because that's just what it was called. I had no idea what the word meant until years later and now looking back on it I'm disgusted at all of the adults in my neighborhood who let us call it that.
Last week I watched O Brother Where Art Thou with my almost 10 year old daughter and at one point in the movie after it had been said a few times my daughter turned an looked at me and asked "What does 'negro' mean?"... and with that I feel like I've done a good job at stopping institutional racism in my family line.
I'm a little further north of you and had the same experience. That's just what it was called. I didn't know the racial bent to the word at all for a long time. Good on you for not letting it continue in your home.