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A lot of other people have said this, but to echo: there's no such thing as "I would never say that racial slur, except I got drunk."
Or "except I got angry."
Or "except I was under a lot of stress."
None of these circumstances make you do things that weren't in your repertoire to begin with. They just loosen inhibitions.
Someone who'll use the n-word when they're stressed or drunk or angry will use it in other circumstances, too, if they feel secure.
I'd never use the n-word, even if I got drunk, because IT WOULD NEVER OCCUR TO ME TO CALL SOMEONE THAT.
On the other hand, "lame" is a word that's been in my vocabulary and I used to feel okay about using and am trying to expunge now.
And if I were beside myself with anger or super-stressed or drunk, I might slip up and use it. Because it's *in my lexicon.*
So, someone who uses the n-word when angry/drunk/stressed? Best case scenario: they used to use it and are trying to stop and slipped up.
Which, on one hand, I'm all for people realizing that language can harm and trying to get better about how they use it and all that.
On the other hand, it's 2017 and if you're not SUPER OLD, I have questions about why you ever thought it was acceptable.
(Obviously, this doesn't apply to Black people using the word as a reclaimed one.)
Like unless you grew up in an organized white supremacy movement and were brainwashed, again, not sure why you were ever comfy with the word
And yes, I've had friends who had racist parents who used it. And those friends grew up UNCOMFORTABLE and EMBARRASSED when they did.
Because they still watched tv and went to school and picked up on all the mainstream cues that it wasn't acceptable.
So again, if you're stressed/angry/drunk and use the n-word, I gotta wonder why it was in your lexicon of go-to terms at all.
