Thirty-five years ago, the foremost American comedian of his day, Richard Pryor, returned from his first visit to Kenya and declared that he would never again call another black person "nigger" or use the word in his public performances. He sparked a movement that gained near universal affirmation if not participation. In time, it seemed that the euphemism "N-word" had vanquished its dark shadow.
Then President Obama spoke the word "nigger" out loud in a podcast interview aired this week. His doing so has renewed the question that many thought had been settled: Is it ever appropriate to use this word, so laden with hatred and the vicious history of racism?