Donald McNeil, Science Reporter Ousted from NYT for

[SlogginThroughIt]

17. I don't even like substituting the phrase "Nword" for the word.

When discussing the word, the actual word should be used. But we don’t because if we do we get banned or turned into a racist for discussing the word even though every time the phrase “N word” is used everyone now says it in their heads or knows exactly what we mean when we say it. It is beyond stupid and in my opinion lowers the level of discussion. (edited in: We also don’t because we don’t want to inflict pain on someone who may not understand the context)

There is a great video (that I cannot seem to find) of a black college aged woman giving a talk about it and does a good job of breaking down how this lets the word keep its teeth. I would never use the word as the insult that it is. But I do find it rather stupid that when talking about it we insert a substitute that means the same as what it is.