My dear old grandmother died at the age of 98 in 1983. I recall as a teen (late 70’s) we would stop by after church, or I’d be over there doing yard work, etc.
She usually had some nice news about the 50-year old gal that lived across the street that would bring over treats and coffee, etc. Sort of watched over her like neighbors do.
“Oh, and that nice nigger girl brought over some homemade bread and we had coffee this morning. She is such a blessing!”
I never did have the gumption to correct her!
I was raised up north, but now live in the south. The area I live in doesn’t have a lot of black people, but the ones we do have are polite, just like anyone would be. There’s a big city, not too many miles away, and I worked there for years. Never met a rude black person there, either, but they do have a high crime rate among blacks.
Up north, I worked with some lovely black people, one of my doctors was black. But some of the run of the mill, non-professional black people often acted like bullies. There is a world of difference between some southern blacks, and some northern blacks. I have a friend who lived in a major southern city, in the deep south, and she developed a poor attitude towards blacks while living there. She said they were, as a rule, aggressive, obnoxious, and hateful. I try never to judge a person by their color; that makes zero sense to me. But I DO assess people by their behavior. I would like the same consideration for myself.
My grandfather didn't get corrected either. That was the term his parents used, so he used it exclusively (grandma made sure that mom and her brother never used it). Grandpa was an odd character- hard to talk to about most things, but a very honest, straightforward, hard-working guy with a hell of a temper, and one who didn't dislike anyone on the basis of skin color. In fact, when I was finishing college, he gave me unsolicited marriage advice that included not ruling out a nice (black) lady, after which he told me some things about his life that were really quite unexpected and endearing.
Mr. niteowl77
When we got married in New Mexico, my wife and I picked her up from the airport. On the trip back to the house, she asked from the back seat, "Got many "n*ggers" around here?" I about drove off the road. Our next door neighbor was black, my running buddy was black and a good portion of the Air Base we were stationed at was black.
To be fair, she was raised among blacks and that is how everyone spoke of blacks back then, including the blacks. She is not a racist. She meant no disrespect. It was the way it was back in the day in the south.