To the Editor:Re “How the N-Word Became Unsayable,” by John McWhorter (Sunday Review, May 2):Context matters. It is unacceptable to use racial slurs as pejoratives. It is also unacceptable to construct a taboo that would forbid the printing or utterance of racial slurs even when, as is in this article, the context is the racial slur as a word itself, not as a pejorative. Word taboos that disregard context are a first step on a slippery slope to the squelching of thoughts and opinions. Many younger people are probably unaware of how media ads, especially television and movie images, have changed from the almost total absence of a Black presence a few decades ago.

Source: New York Times May 09, 2021 15:00 UTC