I agree, only I'd say "When I was young and dumb." To this day I find it completely foolish for people to equate the use of the 'n' word with racism. If that's all racism was about it wouldn't be a problem in society. Racism is something much uglier than word labels.
Old sayings like "sticks and stones may break my bones..." become old sayings for a reason; they've proven true over time.