nobody who was alive during the 60-70’s period can truthfully say they never used that word. it was a common as anything back then. some used it as an epithet, but most simply as a label.
are we gonna go and punish people retro-actively now?
and are we gonna seek out white people for punishment, since it seems to be OK for blacks to use the word? how about asians? hispanics? mixed race? who can use the word and who cannot?
if we’re gonna go on witch hunts, we’re gonna need a scorecard here
I remember my grandmother had to be retrained to go from “that word” to Negro and sometimes she slipped. She played cards with black women, never treated anyone any different that I ever saw (this was Georgia). She just used the word as a differentiation to white people.
She never understood how it was bad. Maybe that was bad in itself, but she didn’t mean the word as hateful in her own heart.
I know that sounds ridiculous given all the movies and TV shows showing southern people and their ‘hatred’ of black people, but it is her truth.